Welcome to the Dracule Household
by Eighth Sin
Summary: Single father Dracule Mihawk goes about trying to take care of his two adoptive children, Dracule Zoro and Perona in a new town. AU, yaoi,
1. Chapter 1

Amber eyes quickly scanned the area, making sure that nothing was too peculiar. The green lawn was fresh and clean, no weed in place. The brick pathway towards the large home was free of any cracks and stains. The home itself held up firmly. It was a one-story with off-white walls and light green contours. It looked and felt homely, which comforted the tall man who clutched at the hands of the two small children.

The neighborhood was small and quiet. There was a playground a few blocks away, which would be perfect for if his children ever wanted to go out and play. The neighborhood was a homely one, or so he had been told. Many families with children lived within it.

The man let out a long, drawn out sigh and looked at the children. Charcoal eyes stared back at him in exasperation.

"Are we gonna go in yet?," asked the little boy with green hair and a bored expression.

The little, dolled up girl on his other side squeezed his hand tighter, moving closer.

Mihawk stared at them for a little while longer, taking in their childish features. His young son Zoro was but seven years old. The boy had a fierce personality and was quick to speak his mind. He was extremely protective of his younger sister, yet the two bickered as much as an old couple would. His younger daughter, Perona, was a cute little three year old. She was very shy and followed her brother everywhere, which annoyed Zoro at times.

He shook his head lightly and cleared his throat, letting go of Zoro's hand in order to reach into his pocket and find the small key to their house. He pulled it out and handed it to Zoro who grinned gladly, took it, and ran over to the door, tripping and stumbling at the stairs. Perona waddled behind him, her frilled dress hindering her movements. Mihawk smiled, grabbing a few bags from the back of his car before following the two.

Zoro fumbled with the key but soon unlocked the door, welcoming the small family with familiar furniture. There were many boxes still stacked in various corners of the living room which would need to be unpacked later.

He placed the bags on the floor and took in the room. The living room was large and roomy. A television was placed in the far corner with Zoro's various game consoles. There were two small bean bags thrown there as well. There was a sofa placed near the bean bags as well and another was near the wall next to the kitchen entrance. It was plain for now, but they would get to it.

He locked the door and plopped onto the sofa near him. The drive to their home was a long one, seven hours to be exact. It was far, but change had been necessary. The children and he had fallen in love with the home as soon as they saw it, so the few difficulties that followed acquiring the home were well worth the experience.

Zoro and Perona ran around the room, trying to unpack all their belongings at once. The two would share a bedroom. Mihawk always felt comfortable with that option because the two were rather imaginative and always ended up not being able to sleep, so at least they could annoy each other at night. The house had three bedrooms, one would be for the children, another for him, and the third would be a guestroom for if they ever had any visitors or if one of the kids had a sleepover.

He did hope that Perona and Zoro would make friends. In their previous home, Zoro would constantly get in fights, therefore children were too afraid to approach him. Perona was very shy and did not attempt to leave her brother's side. He sighed, realizing he had to enroll them into the school. Perona would still have a year before she could be enrolled in preschool, but Zoro would be enrolled in the elementary school. He sighed again. He would have to find a babysitter for when he had work and Perona was alone. Day care was out of the question as Perona had a rather startling reaction.

"Daddy, tell Perona to stop!" Zoro whined, snapping his father out of his thoughts. Perona was clutching to an action figure of a swordsman.

"No!" Perona blew a raspberry at her older brother before running to her father. Mihawk caught her and smiled, placing her on his lap.

"Perona, sweety, that's your brother's," He softly spoke, looking her in the eye. She pouted and broke eye contact as she blushed, handing the figure over to her father.

Mihawk let out a small laugh as he handed the figure over to Zoro. Who would have ever thought? He was so young, twenty-three, to be exact. He had never thought of children before, yet when he saw these two he knew he had to take them in. After several ordeals, he had obtained all rights to them. Sometimes he wondered what he would have done if he couldn't have them. He shook his head, he was thinking too much again.

Zoro plopped down next to him, messing with the figure's arms. The two had begun to slow down, the exhaustion of travel hitting them. Mihawk smiled a bit wider, standing up.

"You two need to get ready for bed," He said, giving Zoro a small push. The boy groaned and pulled on his sister's arm so that they could and get dressed. Mihawk waited until the two had come back and took them to their room.

Their beds were on opposite sides of the room, Zoro's side being more unkempt and sloppily put together as opposed to Perona's, which was somewhat less sloppy and covered with several stuffed toys of varying sizes. Zoro climbed into his bed and almost immediately fell asleep. Perona climbed into her own bed but made sure to cling onto her father's sleeve. Mihawk said nothing as he sat beside her, waiting for her to let go. Soon she did, and he placed a kiss on her head before getting up. He reciprocated the action with Zoro and then left, closing the door halfway.

In the living room, Mihawk took out his laptop and immediately began to work, trying to see if it was possible to enroll Zoro on the school's website. No. He sighed, guessing he would have to go to the school and enroll him. He then started searching up babysitters, finding one that reminded him of someone he knew. The babysitter was a teenager by the name of Bon Clay. The bio said that he was a home schooled teenager who was available seven days a week. Mihawk raised an eyebrow, that's good enough.

He sighed to himself and closed the device. He would look more into these ordeals afterwards. Now was the time to rest.


	2. Chapter 2

Mihawk was awoken by Perona tugging on his cheek. He let out a soft groan and rubbed his face. He opened his eyes only to quickly shut them again because the room had been filled with light. He squinted to see Zoro opening the curtains.

"Stop being an old man, and feed us," Zoro rolled his eyes. Mihawk smiled a bit and got out of bed. He ruffled Perona's hair. She was holding a few hair ties, no doubt waiting for him to braid her hair or something of the like.

He made his way to the bathroom in order to take a quick shower and get dressed. He finished and got out, seeing his children walking around the kitchen. He assumed they actually wanted a home cooked breakfast as the cereal was untouched.

"We should make breakfast because of the new house," Zoro explained. This time it was Mihawk's turn to roll his eyes while reminding himself that they were children and things like this were not to be unsuspected.

"What would you all like this morning, then?" He asked them, looking through the cabinets and fridge.

Zoro and Perona looked at each other and started bickering to themselves about what to have. Perona wanted to make a cake, and Zoro was trying to explain that it was morning which meant they should have pancakes. Perona refused to acknowledge his position and brought out red velvet cake mix.

Mihawk smiled, taking it from her.

"How about we make this later? We'll make pancakes right now, then you can help me make this, okay?" He spoke to her. The pink haired toddler frowned but gave into her father's claim.

"I help only! Zoro mess up!" She explained to her father who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes. I remember last time, thank you for being responsible, Perona. Zoro can help us eat the cake, okay?"

Perona nodded and grinned, giving him a triumphant answer. Zoro rolled his eyes, blushing a bit as he remembered a rather recent mishap in the kitchen.

The family prepared pancakes in the kitchen with ease, but getting the children to eat was another ordeal. The two often enjoyed preparing food but would forget that food was for eating, so they would just admire their creation. Mihawk got them to finish eating then got them dressed.

"Okay, Zoro. We need to get you into the school, so be a good kid for the time we'll be there, okay?" Mihawk asked of his son while fixing the boy's shirt. Zoro nodded, waiting for his dad to finish being a hawk.

Mihawk then moved onto Perona who was waiting with her hair ties. He finished brushing her hair and tying her hair up in a high ponytail.

"Alright, so we're going to go to the school now. Maybe we can explore after," Mihawk said, trying to get his children a bit more excited.

"Can we go to the park?" Zoro asked, his eyes lighting up a little bit. Mihawk nodded as he fixed his own clothing, tucking in his button up shirt.

He grabbed the keys and led the kids outside, making sure to lock the door behind them. It was refreshing to see the bright lawn and smell the morning dew. The mist was clearing out in the distance, giving way to the vast nature that surrounded the town. He enjoyed the scenery. He was a perceptive person, so being able to take it in was very calming for him.

They got into the car and drove towards a small elementary school. It was around ten in the morning, so the children were in class. Mihawk and his children got out of the car and made their way to the school's office. The woman at the desk was talking on the phone, so he sat the children down on the chairs and waited for her to be available. Once she was done, she turned her attention to him.

"How can I help you?" She asked, eyeing him in a suspicious manner.

"I need to enroll my son," Mihawk answered, staring back at her with a straight face. It was a bit annoying. He knew what she was thinking.

"Your son? Aren't you a bit young?" She asked him, glancing at Zoro.

"Yes, I am here to enroll my son. I would like to know if I can get that done here," He answered her, ignoring her question.

The woman made eye contact with him and then immediately broke it, he made her feel uncomfortable.

"You can start the enrollment process now, that's no problem I'll get the work ready," She quickly replied, pulling up the school's website and also taking out several papers and handing them to Mihawk. He didn't thank her as he took them and began to fill out the papers and take out the paperwork he needed to hand over.

After what seemed to be forever, he was finished with all of the papers and had to move onto the online portion of the enrollment. He found it stupid that there were two parts. Why couldn't they make his life easier and just make it one big paper stack or just put the whole process online. He would have less of a headache. It was n't the work which irritated him, it was the way the woman kept eyeing him and his children.

He glanced over at the two, seeing that Zoro was trying to help Perona read a pamphlet he had found. He smiled at the two before getting back to the application. He was soon finished and was waiting for any further instructions. He was told that Zoro could start school the next week and was handed several papers and pamphlets about the school and certain policies. He organized them quickly and tucked them under his arm.

Zoro got up and took hold of Perona's hand as they walked over to Mihawk. Mihawk saw the woman giving him a look and gave her a glare before leaving.

"Daddy, weird lady," Perona said as they walked towards the car.

"I know. Don't be like her when you grow up," Mihawk sighed, buckling her in her toddler seat.

"Okay. Zoro can be her," She said, nodding to herself as if she had come up with a brilliant idea. Mihawk let out a laugh and he nodded along with her in agreement. Zoro made a sound of annoyance at being teased but didn't say anything. Mihawk lightly punched his arm. When he left to go to the front, Zoro let himself smile at the attention he had received, feeling victorious.

"So, park now?" Mihawk mumbled to himself.

The two simultaneously made a noise of agreement, giving Mihawk his answer. He had nothing better to do, so he had begun to drive towards the park. In a matter of minutes, they had arrived to a decent sized playground. A set of swings were swinging along with the wind. A large structure with several slides which were connected by a small bridge was in the middle of the grounds. A few younger children were running around the structure, yelling about pirates and the navy.

Mihawk saw two adults, a red haired man and a woman with red-violet hair, sitting at a bench near the entrance of the park, watching the children whilst holding some sort of conversation. He parked on the outside and before he could say a word, Zoro had unbuckled Perona and jumped out of the car, making his way toward the swings. Mihawk rolled his eyes and sighed, smiling at Perona who stared back at him in exasperation. He laughed at her expression, feeling as though she was sometimes the older sibling. He helped her outside and was dragged over to the swings. He was thankful she hadn't worn a dress as she would not have been able to sit in the small toddler swing.

He tried to help her into the swing, but she would not have it. After several minutes of struggling, she finally gave in and allowed her father to help her. He then took the liberty of pushing her back and forth lightly. He noticed Zoro standing on the swing and staring at the children who were running around.

The red-haired man had seen Zoro staring at the children and called over one of the children. After speaking to the child, he gave him a light push, and the grinning child began to giddily make his way towards Zoro. Zoro immediately looked down, not wanting to give away that he had indeed been observing them.

"Hi! My name's Luffy! Play with us!" The young boy smiled, looking at Zoro with a hopeful expression. Zoro looked at Mihawk who stared back at him, shrugging. Zoro grinned and jumped off the swing, allowing himself to be dragged away by Luffy.

Mihawk saw Perona squirming in the swing and mumbling to herself and sighed. She was such a stubborn child. He helped her out of the swing and then walked over to a picnic table. Perona followed him and sat beside him, watching her brother and his new friends in a longing manner.

Mihawk remembered about the babysitter and decided that it was a good time to call and have a small chat. He found the number and dialed the babysitter up. Their conversation had been pleasant overall, and he had taken a liking to the attitude of the teenager, though he refused to admit it to himself. They had arranged a schedule and the job was done. He was glad that it had been so easy because having to negotiate with people was not one of his favorite hobbies.

Perona had fallen asleep which meant that it was time to go home. Mihawk stood up, gently carrying Perona and making his way over to Zoro.

"It's time to go home," He said loud enough for Zoro to hear. Zoro looked over and reluctantly started walking towards his father. Luffy started following Zoro, his giddy aura gone. The boy looked extremely upset due to Zoro having to leave. He pulled on the older boys arm, attempting to talk him into staying for a while longer. Zoro shook his head, saying that his sister would be grumpy if she woke up and was outside.

As Zoro walked away, Luffy stopped following him, and instead looked down, clenching his fists.

"But I wanna play… Ace!" The boy cried out, startling Zoro.

Immediately, the red-haired man's head snapped up in surprise and worry. He got up and walked over to the boy, trying to coax him into letting Zoro go. Mihawk on the other hand felt extremely awkward. What was he supposed to do? Look like a jerk and drag his son away?

Zoro regained his composure and walked toward Luffy, patting the young boys head.

"It's not like I'm leaving forever or can play again some other time, you baby," He rolled his eyes at Luffy, who had been clutching at his peculiar strawhat.

Luffy sniffled and grinned, "I'm not a baby! You're my friend now!"

Zoro slightly tilted his head, feeling himself smile a bit at the boy's outburst.

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you later," The green haired boy nodded, but then faltered when the smaller boy held out his pinky.

Luffy stared at him intensely, "You have to promise."

Zoro looked at his father, who raised an eyebrow and nodded, shifting Perona in his arms. Zoro then smiled and locked his pinky with Luffy's, who grinned triumphantly.

"I guess it's a promise, huh, Luffy?"


	3. Chapter 3

Mihawk stared at his bedroom ceiling while having a slight anxiety attack. He was arguing with himself in his head as to whether or not to wake Zoro up for school. The problem wasn't that Zoro wouldn't make friends, it was that Zoro would probably beat anyone up who tried to be friends with him. A reason he had been rather glad about the incident at the park was that Zoro has immediately taken a liking to the boy he had been playing with. It was a miracle of sorts.

He finally decided to get out of bed himself and first get ready himself. It was his first day of work, as well, so he would need to also relax a bit. He had gotten a job at an ITA facility in the town which required him to work in the building for the first year of employment and then he would be able to work from home. People found it odd that a twenty-three year old was so well established, but he had been conditioned from a young age to be successful and take his studying seriously, so he was a bit more successful, a bit more earlier.

He soon finished and worked on waking up Zoro, who was taking the morning welcome in a very negative manner.

"I don't want to go…" Zoro whined, turning to his side.

"You only have to go for about three months, Zoro. Summer is almost here, anyways," Mihawk attempted to talk his son into getting up.

"Second grade is stupid. All the kids are so stupid," He brought his blanket onto his face to block the light.

Mihawk couldn't help but grin to himself. Zoro had started school a bit earlier than most children, but the boy showed maturity beyond his age. He believed it had to do with him witnessing the death of a close friend when he was younger.

"C'mon, Zoro. Doesn't Luffy go to that school?" Mihawk pulled out his trump card, hoping that Zoro would take the bait. To his delight, the young boy sat up and stared at him in irritation.

"Jerk"

"Moss-head"

Zoro made an odd sound, a mix between a cry and scream. Before Mihawk had the chance to laugh at the boy some more, the doorbell rang.

Perona, who had been awake almost all night awaiting the arrival of her new friend, the babysitter, immediately jumped out of her bed and ran to answer the door. She tried unlocking the lock on the top of the door but couldn't reach it. She made a crying sound and waited for Mihawk to show himself. He did, but she wouldn't let him unlock the door. She reached up, signaling she wanted to be carried and the started fumbling with the lock herself.

Mihawk smiled and opened the door, revealing an odd looking teenager. He had makeup on, consisting of pink lipstick and blue eyeshadow. He smiled, "Hi, I'm Bon Clay, the babysitter. Are you Mr. Dracule?"

Mihawk nodded, "Congratulations. She unlocked the door for you."

Bon looked at Perona and smiled, waving at her. She, in turn, blushed, feeling rather shy suddenly, and smiled, hiding herself in her fathers arms.

Mihawk went over several instructions with Bon and after dressing Perona, was then off with Zoro.

Perona studied the boy carefully, and he stared back, crouching down to eye level. He reached his hand out to her, "Hi, I'm Bon Clay. You can call me Bon."

Perona grinned, not feeling as shy anymore. The boy had a very comforting vibe about him.

"Friend!" She exclaimed, taking his hand in both of her tiny hands and pulling him around the living room and to the bean bags in front of the Tv. She sat him down and took the remote, trying to turn it on. Once she succeeded, she put on a children's show and sat down with him.

"You haven't eaten yet, your dad said that you like pancakes?"

Perona looked at him and blew out her cheeks before nodding.

"Then you can wait here, and I'll go prepare some really quickly."

Bon walked over to the kitchen and began to prepare a small breakfast for the girl. Perona followed him shortly after, trying to see if she could make herself useful. She pulled out two animal shaped plates and nudged Bon to pay attention to her, so she could give them to him. He smiled and took the plates. Once he finished, he placed the pancakes in one of the plates, drizzling them with syrup and handing them to her. She stared at him in confusion.

"Bon-chan no eat?" She asked, concerned.

He laughed and shook his head.

"I already ate, but thank you," He told her, walking her to the table so she could eat. Once he got her settled, he pulled out a text book and attempted to get some of his homework done.

Meanwhile, Mihawk had been going through several rules with Zoro in the car, and the whole situation had gotten out of hand.

"Zoro, if you do get in a fight, I mean if there's absolutely no way out of it, you need to win at least. If you start a fight, you at least need to win," Mihawk explained, when Zoro asked him about an unavoidable fight.

Zoro nodded, crossing his arms in the back seat.

"What if I don't start the fight?"

"Knock them out anyways. They're stupid if they're messing with you."

"Okay… Hm…"

Mihawk slapped himself when he stopped at a red light. Why was he encouraging his kid? After clearing his throat he spoke, "Also, you can't tell anyone that I'm giving you this advice."

Zoro laughed and nodded, "Okay. Ew. We're here. Daddy, do you even know where my class is?"

"It can't be that hard to find…" Mihawk mumbled to himself. He had a quick flashback of his teenage years when he developed an extremely bad sense of direction. He had of course out gotten control of the situation, but he had the nagging feeling that Zoro would go through something like that as well.

He parked the car and got out with Zoro. The boy looked rather irritated and annoyed at the fact that he had to attend the school.

"Stop making that face," Mihawk rolled his eyes at him and started walking. Zoro followed him, walking by his side. Mihawk looked around the small campus, easily finding the small hallway where Zoro's class was. He made his way to the class, seeing a bunch of children just waiting near the class. He recognized one of the children, a girl with orange hair who had been at the park before. She had also been playing with Zoro, along with Luffy and a blue haired girl.

The girl immediately recognized Zoro, bouncing over to him in excitement. She grinned at the two and gave them a chipper 'good morning!'. Zoro's face lightened up a little bit as he saw the familiar girl. Nami quickly dragged Zoro off to introduce him to some of her friends which included a blonde boy and a boy with a rather long nose. Mihawk sighed, and told Zoro he was off, deciding it would be good to get to his job and get the day over with. For some reason, he just felt very exhausted.

He had arrived to the facility after being caught in traffic for what felt like an eternity. The job was nothing special, and neither were the people. Most of them were rather bland and like him, looked as though they had better places to be. Most of them were older than him which led to many people trying to talk to him, asking about how he was holding up in the adult world as if he was an ignorant child. People like so made him angry, and so he chose to ignore them and just get the day over with. He would have to feel like this for a year, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

He had called Bon, asking him if he could pick up Zoro and the teen had been fine with it. He had also spoken with Perona for several minutes, wanting to check up on her. The girl was very excited and happy about the babysitter which gave him a sense of gratitude. He was glad she was getting along with someone, even if they weren't of her age.

Soon he was home and as he walked through the door, he was met by the sight of Perona painting Bon's nails. The teen seemed to have no problem about it as he wa having a n animated conversation with the proud toddler. When Perona saw her father walk through the door, she immediately held up Bon's hand, showing some very sloppy nail polish decorating his nails.

"Wow. You're all artists," He said in a monotonous voice. He then swallowed, clearing his throat, "That's very good. I hope she gave you no problems."

"No, no. She's a delight, I really enjoyed being able to watch her for the day. She said you guys were new here, and I wanna say that if you ever need me to take care of them, let me know," He said, giving Mihawk a grin. Mihawk nodded, and soon Bon left. Perona was upset about seeing him leave, but once she had been reassured that she would see him again, she was fine.

Mihawk sat down on the sofa, not bothering to do anything else. Work had been rather boring and draining, which in turn drained him. Nevertheless, he didn't regret moving. It had of course been the only decision he could make.

There was a knocking on the door and before he could get up to see who it was, Zoro raced out of his room and quickly answered the it. Mihawk raised his eyebrow, wondering who it could be. He was surprised to see several young children gathered around. oro led them in, and then introduced them to his father.

"Daddy, I made friends-"

"Aww! You still call him daddy!" The orange haired girl squealed, pinching his cheeks.

"Hello, Mr. Dracule. I'm Nami. You don't have to worry about ZOro, I'll make sure no one bullies him," The girl reassured Mihawk, still pinching a struggling Zoro's cheeks.

"Aw, Nami, you don't have to pinch the marimo, ya know. What about me?" The young blonde haired boy who was sucking on a lollipop complained.

"Be quiet. This is Sanji," She motioned towards him. "And Usopp."

Mihawk slowly nodded, wondering why a bunch of second graders were running loose in the neighborhood. His thoughts were interrupted by another knock on the door. He got up to answer it and met eyes with the red haired man from the park.

"Hey… Is this where they gathered? I'm so sorry about this. I told them I'd take them to the bowling alley, and they wanted to bring along a friend, your son, I'm guessing," He awkwardly laughed, rubbing his neck with his right hand.

Mihawk only gave him a blank stare and the man shifted and then held his hand out, "My name is Shanks."

Mihawk stared at him intensely and then reached out to shake his hand, "Mihawk."

The man gave him a grin, "So can I take Zoro along with us? I'll get him home in a few hours."

Mihawk broke their stare and looked at Zoro who gave him a nonchalant look, which he knew was hiding a longing expression.

"I… Don't see a problem," He told Shanks and was awarded with a collection of cheers.

"Zoro! Where is he!" A child screamed from behind Shanks. The man moved and showed a heavily breathing Luffy looking really annoyed.

"You all left me! That's not fair!" He whined, shanking Shanks loose, tied up sleeve.

It was then that Mihawk noticed that the man did not have a left arm. His stare didn't linger as it was none of his business, and he honestly didn't care. WHat interested him more were the three scars on the man's eye. How had he gotten something as odd as those? He mentally shrugged, and let Zoro get ready.

"This is my number, so if you need to contact me, just give me a call or text," SHanks explained as the children all chattered away, waiting for Zoro to finish.

"Alright," Mihawk nodded, staring the man in the eyes.

Shanks laughed, putting his hand on his hip, "You're a social butterfly, huh?"

Mihawk's stare converted into a strong glare as he silently cursed the man, waiting for them all to leave so that he could just relax.

"No need to be so hostile, friend. We'll be seeing each other a lot, so you better warm up," SHanks gave him a confident smirk.

"You talk too much," Mihawk slowly said, not faltering in his glare.

Shanks made a 'pft' sound and saw the children were ready.

"Alright, we'll be back later," Shanks smiled as Mihawk continued glaring at him.

The red haired man soon left with the children and he once again got on the sofa. This time he rested on his back, his arm over his eyes.

Perona crawled up on his stomach and sat on him while waiting for her nails to dry. She hummed to herself, "Pretty hair."

Mihawk raised an eyebrow and sighed. That man was… He didn't have any words to describe him. He was at least not one of the bland characters he had met today at work, and that was a miracle.

"Yeah, pretty hair… but yours is prettier"

He watched Perona try to come up with an argument, but she couldn't as she did in fact agree that her unique pink colored hair was pretty. He grinned, watching her fumble and frown, arguing with herself. These were the moments he lived for.


	4. Chapter 4

There's a lot of errors in the previous chapter, ew, sorry. I'm glad you're all enjoying this. Only Luffy is Shanks's kid.

Zoro had been dropped off home a few hours later. He had definitely been enjoying himself, and Mihawk had felt rather ecstatic that his boy was getting along with children his age.

Shanks had attempted to have a conversation with him, but he wouldn't have it. He didn't know what to say, so he may have come off very rude, but the man didn't seem to mind. He left after saying that he was happy to meet him and his family. Like the incident at the park, Luffy had been unwilling to leave Zoro. Zoro didn't seem to mind the boy, though he did act like he was annoying.

Mihawk rolled his eyes to himself as he walked to his room, ready to sleep. Zoro was basically set, all he had to worry about now was Perona making friends. The girl had never taken interest in children her own age, believing they were gross. She enjoyed keeping to herself and playing around with her stuffed animals. She had taken an interest in dancing and would always dance along to the various childrens' shows that would be on TV. He wondered if she would want to ever enroll in a dance class. She didn't seem like she would enjoy the idea. She'd rather just mess around at home and gradually learn on her own.

He rested on his bed, thinking to himself about whatever came to mind. He had ordered a piano, which he was somewhat excited for. It had been a while since he had played, but he felt an overwhelming desire to start again, and so he had just ordered it while at work. It was supposed to arrive in the next few days, so he felt giddy about finally being able to mess around on it.

He turned to his side, stretching at popping his back, sighing at the relaxation he felt. Tonight was one of those nights where he couldn't clear his mind enough to fall asleep. He sighed again, closing his eyes and, getting comfortable. He smiled to himself, remembering the awkward red haired man.

'How cute...' His eyes immediately snapped open wide, as his mind immediately stopped working. Had he really just thought that? He wanted to punch himself in the face. He was being a creep again. He was pretty sure he just liked how the man looked, he did have an eye for beautiful things and did enjoy looking at them. Yes, that was right. He just appreciated the man's looks. He nodded to himself, believing himself.

He heard small footsteps and a slight dragging on the carpet. He turned to see Perona in his doorway, dragging along a large, odd bear with her.

"Perona, what's wrong?" He asked her, a bit concerned.

"I miss Daddy," She mumbled drowsily as she climbed into his bed. He moved a bit to the side in order to let her fit her toy in the bed as well.

"I missed you too," He sighed, hugging her and resting his cheek on her head. She hugged him back and said nothing as she closed her eyes, her breathing gradually slowing down and following a rhythmic pace.

Mihawk had almost fallen asleep himself when Perona had shifted in his arms, raising her arms above her head. Her light pink sleeves moved down to her elbows, showing several of the numerous burn scars painting her arms. He was once again staring wide eyed, this time at her arms. It made him so angry. He was absolutely enraged everytime he thought about it. He pulled her closer, mumbling apologies to her for having to experience such a thing at such a young age. He felt himself unable to get rid of the death threats floating around in his mind.

He breathed slowly, trying to calm himself. More footsteps tapped through the hallway and into his room. Zoro had walked in, slowly bringing himself to Mihawk's other side. He didn't seem to realize that Mihawk was still awake as he tucked his father's blanket neatly to his side. Zoro then used his own blanket for himself, falling asleep soon. Mihawk smiled a bit at the little boy's sense of responsibility. He found himself chuckling to himself.

The night was a quiet and tiring ordeal. Mihawk was unable to sleep at all, his stupid mind had decided to keep bringing forth thought provoking questions which kept him up all night. He had soon woken up Zoro, getting him ready for school. Today he would go to work a bit later, as yesterday had just been a introduction kind of day for him. Bon would be coming by later as well, so he was set.

Zoro had no problem waking up. He was excited to see his new friends and was quick to get dressed and eat breakfast. Perona had woken up when she realized no one was in bed and had made her way to the kitchen where her father and brother were lounging. Mihawk helped her get dressed and brushed her hair, tying it up. She was still drowsy, walking around clumsily and refusing to eat anything. Mihawk frowned at her difficulty but stopped caring, she would eat when she was hungry which would be soon.

He was soon off to drop Zoro off at the school and went back home with Perona. The two had argued the whole way home. Perona had claimed that boys were 'poops' and though Mihawk did agree with her, he felt like arguing with someone, so who better than his own daughter? Perona stood her ground, saying that they were annoying and needed to stop talking. Her claims were amusing to Mihawk, and he didn't fail to let her know. When they got home, he finally changed his position, saying that boys were indeed large piles of poops. The toddler grinned, feeling triumphant about her victory.

She placed herself on the floor of the living room, taking her father's large CD binder and looking through it. She picked out a CD she deemed to be cute and kept smacking it on his leg until he looked down to see that she wanted to play rolled his eyes, grinning slightly, taking it from her. He popped it into his stereo and let the music fill the room. Perona jumped around, trying to sing along, which she accomplished by babbling to the tune of the music. Mihawk couldn't help but laugh at her, it was such an amusing sight.

Soon, Bon arrived and it was time for Mihawk to leave for work, which he wasn't looking forward to.

While he was wallowing in his misery, Perona was having a fun time getting Bon to dance with her. He did know how to dance, so he found himself showing her how to do twirls and even dance a bit. Perona enjoyed bossing the teenager around, making him play with her. The boy didn't seem to mind, she was a nice kid. He liked kids which was kind of the point of being a babysitter..

Zoro was currently sitting in class. His desk partner was the blonde boy, Sanji. The two had immediately gotten off to a bad start, but it was more of a brotherly hate. They had started arguing as soon as they met. Nami tapped Zoro from behind, asking if he wanted to go to the park after school. He shrugged, saying he'd need to ask his dad. Nami rolled her eyes, calling him a daddy's boy. He glared at her and then Sanji punched his arm telling him not to glare at his beloved Nami. The two boys started arguing, ready to start a fight. The teacher told them to calm down as they were disrupting the class. The two stopped but continued to give each other glares.

Zoro wondered what Luffy was up to. The boy was two grades behind him. He and Usopp were in kindergarten, along with a boy named Chopper who he had met that morning. He only saw them before school because they got out at an earlier time, which was a bummer. He sighed, getting bored of listening to the teacher talking. He understood the content, but many of his classmates were a bit slower, needing further explanation on topics he found very basic.

Soon class was over, and Zoro waited for Perona and Bon to come and pick him up. He saw Nami and her sister Nojiko run over to a tall woman with a very peculiar hairdo. The two burst into conversation as soon as they reached her. The woman grinned, asking something along the lines of, "Did you knock him out?"

Zoro was surprised that his father wasn't the only one who would ask such a question.

Sanji was trying to impress the woman who rolled her eyes at him, ruffling his hair. He blushed, grinning widely. Zoro wanted to walk over to them, but suddenly he felt a bit awkward, feeling as though he would be intruding. Nami spoke to the woman who then looked at Zoro, catching his stare. He looked down, waiting patiently. The woman walked over, bringing Nami and the rest along.

"Zoro, right?" SHe asked.

He nodded.

"Would you like to come play at the park with these brats?" She questioned him.

Before he could answer the question, Bon pulled up in his car. Zoro looked at him and then at the woman, "I have to go home."

The woman rolled her eyes, letting out a sarcastic laugh.

"No, you don't. Hey, Bon-chan, how you doing?" She opened the passenger door, greeting the teen.

"Oh, Hi Ms. Bellemere! I'm just here to pick up Zoro," He answered her, smiling.

"Hm, well you see, I'm about to go meet up with Shanks and Yasopp. The kids wanna go play or whatever kids do. I was wondering if we could bring along Zoro," She told him, motioning towards the group of socializing children.

"Oh, I don't know about that. Mr. Dracule never said anything about that, and he's at work, so I can't call him right now."

Bellemere frowned, sighing, "Well, I guess I can't steal the guy's kid because I don't know him."

She turned to Zoro and patted his head, "You need to tell your dad to call Shanks or something so we can sort out these play dates or whatever you call them."

Zoro nodded, getting in the car without saying anything. Perona was ecstatic to see her older brother as she pulled on his green hair, telling him to say hi to her. He yelled out in a n annoyed fashion but didn't hide the grin on his face. He pinched her nose, causing her to let go. After Bon finished talking to Bellemere, they drove off home.

After they ate, Zoro decided to hook up his Playstation and began to play a game on it. Perona sat by him, watching in complete mesmerization. He tried to explain to her how to play and was laughing at how horrible she was. She tried punching him in the face, but tripped and fell into his bean bag, pushing him off of it.

"Hey!" He yelled out, finding himself laughing.

The two bickered among themselves, asking for Bon's opinion every now and then. The babysitter found their antics very odd, but nonetheless humored them.

Mihawk soon arrived home, allowing Bon to pass on the message of contacting Zoro's friend's parents and then leave.

He asked them how their day had been, feeling wiped out. He honestly couldn't wait until he would be able to work from home. Working with people was not a passion for him. His children continued to be animated and it calmed him down. He made them milkshakes and rested as they put on a movie. He watched along with them, finding the really bad jokes in them a lot more funny than they were supposed to be. His eyes lingered to a his phone which had Shanks' number saved in it. He wanted to give the man a call, but thought against it. They had no relationship at all and him calling him out of the blue would just be odd. He also never was the type to actually go out and make friends, so he completely tossed the thought.

"I like school," Zoro told him, sipping at his milkshake.

Mihawk raised his eyebrow, "That's good. Are your friends always at the park? I was driving back here and they were there."

Zoro nodded, "Yeah, their parents are friends, so they see each other a lot. You should be friends with them, so I can hang out with them more"

Mihawk spat his drink, glaring at Zoro.

"You want ME to make friends? You want me to SOCIALIZE? What are you? My MOM?" HE sarcastically said, making himself sound like a really snobby guy.

Poor Zoro didn't understand that his father was just trying to be funny and looked rather upset, thinking he'd said something to upset him. Mihawk burst into laughter at his son's reaction, feeling sorry for him. Zoro looked at him in confusion, wondering what in the hell was going on.

After Mihawk calmed down, he gave Zoro a one-armed hug, telling him he was just joking and that he would try to get friendly with the parents. (HAHAHAHA. False hope was wonderful) Zoro grinned at his father and then continued watching the movie with Perona who had been ignoring them the whole time. He tugged on her ponytail in order to get a reaction out of her. She just groaned and slapped him away, slurping on her milkshake i n fear for the character who was in a tight situation.


	5. Chapter 5

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It had been roughly over two months since the Dracule family had moved to a new neighborhood. School had been going very well for Zoro, he hadn't gotten in a single fight. Well, as far as Mihawk knew, he hadn't. Perona had shown an interest in dance and during her time with Bon, the babysitter had started giving her mini lessons which kept her occupied. Work, on the other hand, was emotionally exhausting for the reason that the people were just too bland. Mihawk wasn't the most social person, but these people were just pathetic. Most of them were older people who just wanted to go home and watch golf or something.

He really only looked forward to coming home and spending time with Zoro and Perona. He had yet to meet Shanks or any of the other adults who supervised the children. Zoro had told them that the adults had invited Mihawk to hang out, but Mihawk, being the ever so social person he is, wouldn't go. He spent a lot of time practicing piano or his swordsmanship. He had been interested in the art since he was a child, learning how to use various daggers and swords. He had a small collection of swords and even had a few custom made ones in his possession. It was a rather extreme interest in a way, but it didn't harm him. If he ever needed to go into self defense, he could stab someone's eye out without them seeing it coming.

It was a Saturday and Zoro was patiently waiting for his friends to come pick him up. He was taking a nap on his bean bag, which was his definition of waiting. Mihawk was also taking a nap on the sofa, snoring lightly. Perona had occupied herself with trying to make her teddybears little hats but was getting infuriated with the task so when the bell rang, she ran over to the door to answer it in order to escape from her dilemma. She successfully unlocked the door and opened it, grinning at her accomplishment. She hadn't needed daddy to help her, and nothing made her more happy than independently accomplishing a task.

"Hi, Perona," Shanks smiled, crouching down to pat her head.

"Move it!" Luffy exclaimed, shoving Shanks and running towards the sleeping child on the bean bag.

Shanks let out a yell and tried to catch his balance but failed, falling over no his back, making a loud thud. Perona looked at the man with a blank and unimpressed expression. What a ditz.

Luffy jumped onto Zoro, receiving a scream from the startled boy. Luffy laughed as Zoro was trying to catch his breath. Zoro then proceeded to smack Luffy on the head for scaring the living daylights out of him. Mihawk's eyes slowly opened. Why was there so much noise? He saw Luffy from the corner of his eye and remembered that Zoro was going to go play with them or something. He sighed through his nose, closing his eyes. That meant that the red haired man would also be present. He would just pretend to be asleep and hopefully they would leave without causing an uproar. Nope.

He felt a hand grab his arm and pull him up. His eyes immediately snapped open as he tried to escape from the clasp, a feeling of panic taking over him. Not this again. He never wanted to feel like this again.

"Whoah, whoah, calm down. You're gonna come with us," Shanks explained, grinning at him. Mihawk calmed down, but continued glaring at the man. Why did we have to be so annoying?

"I refuse."

"I'm not letting you. You guys have been here for a while, and no one except I know that you can talk. We're taking the kids out," Shanks stated, pulling the man up off of the sofa. Mihawk stood up and shrugged his hand away. He gave him a glare and straightened his shirt. Shanks grinned, patting himself on the back.

"High-five, Zoro. We're getting this nerd to join us!" Shanks exclaimed, getting a cheer and high-five from the boy. Mihawk rolled his eyes, frowning as he got ready. He made sure Perona had put on her tiny flats before picking her up and waiting. Shanks grinned at the fact that he had finally gotten the hermit to come out of his shell. They left the house, Zoro and Luffy racing ahead. Shanks tried to hold another conversation with Mihawk as they walked towards the park.

"So why did you come here of all places?" He asked.

Mihawk looked at him and then straight ahead. He felt Perona tug at his hair, pushing it forward and slicking it back.

"It was the right thing to do."

Shanks hummed at the response. There wasn't really much to go on.

"Did you adopt them or are they biological?" He wondered out loud and then realized what he had asked.

"Oh, shit, wait. sorry, my bad. You don't have to answer that," He hit his head.

Mihawk raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that touchy of a subject. I adopted these two three years ago," Mihawk answered calmly, looking at Perona and holding her a bit tighter than he had been earlier.

"That's nice," Shanks hummed, putting his hand in his pocket.

Mihawk raised an eyebrow."What's with the bold fashion statement?" He asked, referring to the flower print pants the man next to him wore. Shanks grinned at him and looked like even more of a dork than he had before. They walked through the fence to enter the park, sighting the other adults. Shanks then turned to Mihawk, grin still plastered on his tan face, ready to answer his question. Before he had the opportunity to even open his mouth, Perona pushed her small hand forward, trying to push Shanks away. The man made an 'umph!' sound, backing away a bit. He looked rather offended as the toddler glared at him.

Mihawk sighed, "Perona, that's rude…"

Perona looked up at the mention of her name. Mihawk continued, "If you try hurting someone, at least you actually hurt them."

Shanks looked at him in surprise. Mihawk met his look, giving Shanks shivers down his spine. For a second, it looked like Mihawk would actually lash out. It was probably just his unique, sharp eyes.

They walked towards a picnic bench which was surrounded by laughing adults. The violet-haired woman caught sight of the two men and grinned, "So you finally got the recluse to join us."

Shanks laughed, patting Mihawk's back, "He's shown his face to the world, finally!"

Mihawk quickly glanced at everyone. There was an older man with long black-grey hair, a man with blue hair who wore a red clown nose, another man with dirty blonde hair in dreads, the woman with red-violet hair, another woman with striking blue eyes, and a large man with blue hair slicked up in an odd fashion. He wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the group was, but he was interrupted by a suffocated feeling. He couldn't breathe, which was when he noticed that Perona was hugging his neck in a rather tight fashion. The girl kept her glare on point, giving all of the people in a group a rather horrifying look.

"What's with the kid?" The man with dreads asked, waving at Perona, attempting to see if she would wave back.

"Perona, I can't breathe...," Mihawk quickly whispered, his voice raspy. She looked at him and loosened her grip.

"She's so possessive. The girl beat me up!" Shanks complained, poking his nose.

Mihawk raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to do, so he just continued standing, allowing Perona to stare down everyone.

He finally sat down several minutes later, when Shanks had dragged him to the table. Perona had finally left him, walking to the woman, trying to look at her eyes. She was being a bit awkward, trying to be a bit more stealthy than it would have been necessary. Meanwhile, Shanks had taken the liberty of introducing Mihawk to everyone. The group consisted of a bunch of odd characters being Shanks, Bellemere, Yasopp, Ben, Buggy, Franky, and Robin. Mihawk had learned that Shanks and Bellemere were siblings, which was probably the most interesting part about the introductions. He didn't say much at all, waiting for it to be time to go home.

Shanks had been trying very hard to get him warmed up to the group, but it wasn't really working. Mihawk had never been the social type. He always kept to himself, feeling his satirical humor and odd behaviors would freak people out so why even bother? He had always been told so, he was a freak and didn't really matter. So it was alright, not being able to get along with people. At this point he didn't care for his happiness, he just wanted Perona and Zoro to feel safe.

He looked over to see Zoro under a dog pile of children. He was complaining that it was unfair and that they were cheating. Nami sat on top if the children, giving them a victorious smirk. He saw that Zoro was indeed happy and enjoying himself. That made his heart feel lighter, and he found himself with a small smirk on his face. The smirk was wiped off when Shanks's face popped out of nowhere, asking him if he wanted to go out for a drink with the rest of them later. Mihawk raised his eyebrow, frowning, and shaking his head.

"What? Why?!" The red haired man whined.

"Zoro and Perona will be alone at home."

"Pft, is that all? We can drop them off at Dadan's or something!" He grinned at him. Mihawk wanted to wipe off the stupid grin. Why was he so damn ecstatic all of the time.

"Actually, I'm not up for drinking tonight, so you can drop the kids off at our place," Robin mentioned, shaking Perona's hand.

"Come on, Mihawk! It'll be fun, and you'll lighten up! Have you even gone out since you came here?" Bellemere inquired, placing her hands on her hips and giving him a fierce look.

He continued frowning and sighed, "Alright..."

The group let out a collective cheer, gaining the attention of the children for a second.

Soon, they decided it was time to leave, and so Zoro and Perona had gone with Franky and Robin. Perona had indeed taken a liking to the woman, clinging to her hand and glaring at Chopper, Franky and Robin's son, when he looked at her.

The group had then gone to a local bar, ready to unwind and, to put it simply, get wasted. Mihawk noticed that they all were rather crazy and drunk after just being there for about a half hour. Shanks handed him a drink, urging him to drink. He glared at him, but accepted the offer, chugging it down easily. He had a strong alcohol tolerance, which he guessed was a good thing in situations like this. The beer or whatever they were drinking wasn't good at all, but he ignored it, enjoying their drunk antics. Shanks sat next to him, his arm slung around his shoulders while he laughed hysterically at a joke Buggy had told. Mihawk found himself smirking a bit, finding that he was enjoying this.

The group drank into the night, but most of them had left before midnight. They knew it was a bit reckless to get too drunk, they had to pick up their kids, of course. Soon Mihawk and SHanks were the only ones left from the group. Mihawk glared at Shanks a bit as he had to drag him out of the bar. He didn't know where Robin and Franky lived, so he had to depend on Shanks.

"Shanks. Get a hold of yourself. Where can I pick up my kids?" He glared, trying to steady the man, who in turn let out a laugh, shaking a bit.

"I'm fine, 'Hawk. Don't ya' worry. We'll get there! Stop worrying!" He laughed hysterically, leaning on Mihawk. Mihawk rolled his eyes and glared at Shanks, but was caught off guard when he caught the intense stare of the red haired man.

"What?" He asked irritably. The man was too care free.

Shanks grinned, his face a bit too close to his own. Mihawk told himself he should move back, but didn't feel like breaking eye contact. His eyes widened when he felt Shank's warm, a bit dry lips press against his own. He had expected it, but his heart skipped a beat. This was just a kiss, right? Why was he enjoying it so much? He pulled back quickly, staring at the red-haired man who nonchalantly laughed. Mihawk swallowed, telling himself the man was drunk. He was just drunk, and this couldn't have meant anything it all. He didn't say he minded in the least, but knew it wouldn't happen again. It was a spur of the moment thing, and he knew it. He kept repeating this to himself as they went to pick up their children. Shanks acted completely nonchalant, grinning and stumbling every now and then.

Robin would not let Shanks take anyone home in his state, claiming that he was way too disoriented to do anything. She had forced him to take the guest room, saying Luffy could share Chopper's room. Mihawk had picked up Zoro and Perona up without problem. He was still thinking about the kiss. It wasn't absolutely heart melting perfect or anything at all, but he just couldn't get his mind off of it. This infuriated him about himself. Whenever someone showed the slightest bit of interest in him, he would take it too far and read too deep into their actions. He was blowing this out of proportion.

But… He had indeed developed a bit of an interest in the man in the past few months. He sighed, rubbing his face. They got home soon enough and he helped Perona and Zoro get ready for bed.

He then helped himself to his own bed, trying to relax, but it was impossible. He could not stop thinking about that stupid man.


	6. Chapter 6

Glad you're all liking this! Thanks for the reviews, follows, faves! They make my day!

Summer had quickly arrived and school was out allowing the children of the neighborhood to roam the streets and cause endless havoc more often than they had been able to when they were trapped within the school. Mihawk was a bit annoyed, the neighborhood was a lot quieter without the constant crashing and laughter of children. He liked when his kids laughed, but hearing other peoples' children laugh made him want to tear off his ears.

Zoro had been spending a lot of time with Luffy and the two had gotten rather close. Zoro was a protective of him as he was with Perona. Perona had started to get along with the young boy Chopper, who was the son of Robin and Franky. Mihawk was glad that they were getting comfortable. He couldn't say the same for himself. He had avoided being alone with SHanks for the past few months and work was very boring. He had resorted to letting the babysitter even stay for longer period of times just so he had someone to talk to.

Speaking of Bon Clay, he had gotten along with the children very nicely. Zoro and Perona enjoyed his company. Perona more so than Zoro because she wasn't able to leave the house as freely. Mihawk didn't mind Zoro leaving alone, but he would blow an artery if he had found out Perona had gone somewhere unaccompanied. She was too young to be able to navigate through the streets.

Currently Mihawk was sitting at his piano and trying to play a song he had in his folder for the longest time. It was a piece from a movie he had watched as a child. He enjoyed playing because it was fun, but the learning process was indeed infuriating. It took his mind off a lot of things, though. Zoro had his friends over, meaning his house was filled with a number of loud children. Perona was taking a nap, so she was in the bedroom. Zoro was currently playing some sort of game on his game console. The children took turns playing against each other. Today was one of the rare days where instead of running around outside, they were inside playing.

Mihawk ignored them, trying to concentrate on his piece, but found that intrusive thoughts were plaguing his mind. He sighed as his fingers slowly stopped pressing the various keys, letting himself sigh and relax. He suddenly tensed when there was loud knock on his door. Why didn't these people ever ring the bell? He sighed, motioning to Zoro that he could sit and play while he got up and walked towards the door. He opened it and saw Shanks standing outside, a frown placed on his face.

"I need to talk to you." He firmly said, looking him straight in the eyes. He broke eye contact in order to wave back at Luffy who motioned at Zoro's head, whispering, 'He's so cool!'

"What do you need?" Mihawk asked, crossing his arm, staring back just as intensely.

Shanks frowned, speaking in a low voice, "When are you going to stop avoiding me?"

Mihawk raised his eyebrow, staying silent for a while. He wasn't going to deny it, he had indeed been avoiding the man since the kiss. He didn't really consider them friends so he didn't see the problem in it. Shanks continued staring at him then decided to grab his wrist, pulling him outside.

"Kids, we're going for a walk. Don't burn the house down," Shanks grinned, waving. The children all cheered, ecstatic that they would be left in charge of the house.

"Do I not get a say in this?" Mihawk growled lowly. Shanks shook his head, whispering a 'no' and prompting the amber-eyed man to put some shoes on. Mihawk gave him a glare, slapping his hand away and slipping on some shoes.

The two made their way through the streets in silence. Shanks stared at Mihawk the whole way, but Mihawk stubbornly looked ahead.

"Are you angry about the kiss?" Shanks asked, stopping and leaning against a tree. The light breeze allowed the leaves to make their journey to the ground a bit more dramatic than it should have been. Mihawk looked at him and didn't say anything, his face stone cold. Shanks frowned.

"Are you angry… at me?" He asked slowly, swallowing afterwards.

Mihawk inhaled sharply, remembering things he'd much rather forget. His stomach flipped, not in a cute romancy way, but more like a about to throw up way. He started to slightly shake but refused to let the man come closer to him. Shanks reached out his hand, asking what was wrong.

Mihawk couldn't handle the sudden stress and double taked, emptying his stomach to the floor, painting the leaves an unsightly color.

"Shit! Mihawk…" Shanks freaked out, attempting to console the man, but Mihawk gave him a glare and a raspy. "Don't touch me."

Several minutes later, after spitting out everything from his mouth, Mihawk glared at the man, wiping his mouth. Shanks' eyes softened, and he was about to move to him in order to soothe him but remembered his reaction when he got close, so he stayed where he was.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Mihawk asked him, miserable, his eyes watering from the sensation after throwing up his insides. He swallowed again, trying to get rid of the taste.

Shanks tilted his head, frowning because he was worried. He wasn't usually like this, but the situation called for caution. This man obviously had something going on to make him so hostile. He waited for Mihawk to start breathing normally again before he answered, "I don't know. You're very… interesting…?"

He didn't know how to answer the question for he was indeed interested in the man, but this situation wasn't the best to admit something like this. Mihawk continued glaring at him.

"And I want you to stop doing that everytime you see me…" Shanks sighed, slowly moving forward, cupping Mihawk's chin between his index and thumb. The man immediately tensed at the touch, obviously trying not to move away.

"Can we talk about this after I stop smelling like bile?" Mihawk asked, slowly reaching his own hand up to touch Shanks' hand but quickly forgot the idea, that would show that he was getting attached. Shanks frowned, but then smiled, "So, we'll talk, right? You're not angry?"

Mihawk glared at him again, "Yes. No."

They soon went back to Mihawk's home. Mihawk took changed his clothes and brushed his teeth. He felt like shoving the toothbrush down his throat. He sighed, finishing up and going to the living room where Shanks had been ambushed, having all the children sit on him. He laid on the floor laughing, saying he had lost. When he saw that Mihawk had come outside, he prompted the children to get off him. Mihawk led him to the kitchen and sat down at the small dining table, resting his head in his hands.

"What do you want?" He asked Shanks, feeling himself falling into the sense of misery again. Not this again. He hated this feeling.

Shanks sat next to him, observing him calmly.

"I want to be able to do this more, but with you in a better mood," He answered, thinking to himself that he sounded really smooth. Mihawk looked over at him, not raising his head.

"Come on, can I have a chance?" Shanks asked, moving closer to him, eyeing him with a childish hope.

Mihawk glared at him, grabbing the collar of his shirt and moving him towards him in a quick pull. This time he was the one to kiss Shanks. He felt his stomach flip again and willed himself to calm down. Shanks inhaled sharply through his nose but smiled through their kiss, placing his hand on the back of Mihawk's neck. Mihawk pulled back much to Shanks' opposition. Mihawk gave him a glare.

"Do you really want me to throw up in your mouth?" He threatened the man who made a disgusted expression, letting out a laugh. He had visibly relaxed. Being serious wasn't his favorite thing to do. Shanks was about to pull Mihawk in for another kiss when he felt two small hands slamming against his back. He jumped in surprise and turned to see a horrified Perona.

"No!" Perona yelled, tearing up, pulling at Shanks' shirt. The confused man moved away from Mihawk who smiled at Perona.

"It's okay Perona, It's okay. Don't worry. I'm not leaving…," He whispered to her, picking her up. The little girl had begun to sob into his shoulder, clinging to his shirt tightly. It took a few moments to calm her down. She had gotten the attention of Zoro who had left his friends to see what was going on. He walked up to his father and reached out his arms, "I'll take her"

Mihawk nodded, talking Perona in to letting go of his shirt and going with her brother. She slowly agreed, letting her big brother carry her to the living room so she could play with them all. Mihawk looked over at Shanks who looked really guilty. Mihawk rolled his eyes and said nothing as he sat silently, staring at the man before him. He was quite attractive, what with his bronze skin, light facial hair, wide, kind eyes, peculiar red hair. It was all interesting, and he liked the thought of being able to just stare at the man, in all honesty that was enough for him.

Shanks started to shift in his chair uncomfortably, waiting for the man to say something.

"She probably thought you were eating me or something," Mihawk told him nonchalantly, his relaxed expression from earlier was gone and he put up a frown once more.

Shanks smiled, leaning forward. Mihawk gave him a look as if to say what the hell, but said nothing.

"You and I are a thing, then?" Shanks asked Mihawk, grinning.

Mihawk glared at him in return, wanting to punch him in the face. He nodded, refusing to speak. Shanks continued to grin. He lifted his hand to caress Mihawk's pale cheek which soon turned pink at his touch. Mihawk averted his glare at the table's surface. Shanks chuckled, enjoying the moment. He felt as though Mihawk was sharing a lot with him from this simple action. He didn't seem like the type to be too physical or affectionate in the beginning so being able to share this moment with him meant a lot.

Shanks closed his eyes, smiling, still touching Mihawk's face. He was definitely going to keep this man happy. He promised himself that. Mihawk stared at the the man's content expression and his face immediately paled.

Shanks was a loud person. Shanks liked sharing unnecessary details with people. Shanks liked social atmospheres. Shanks would drag him into these things like a hurricane. He swallowed and tried to calm himself. He would let himself have this. It was okay. He didn't feel threatened, hanks seemed like he would respect him and his children, so he had nothing to worry about. He kept repeating to himself that he had nothing to worry about and that they would be fine.

"Daddy!" Luffy cried out, interrupting the two. Shanks looked towards the entrance to the kitchen and sighed, smiling back at Mihawk, placing a small peck on his lips before leaving to go see what Luffy wanted to complain about.

Mihawk's fingers touched his lips, groaning to himself. Why was the man so touchy? He didn't mind, but it kept catching him off guard. He liked it, but he wasn't sure of it. He got up to see what the children were doing and saw that a few of them had left. Only Luffy, Nami and Sanji were still there. Luffy was complaining about how he left his straw hat at home and felt like his head was naked. Shanks rolled his eyes telling him that he could get it when he got home.

Mihawk rested himself on the couch and Perona waddled over to him, escaping from a doting Nami. She sat at his feet, playing around with the hem of his sweat pants. He nudged her with his foot, catching her off guard, making her fall to her side. She made a noise of surprise and grabbed onto his pants in order to steady herself but failed, falling. She got up and made a face, refusing to smile at his odd expressions. After staring at her with a blank face for a few seconds, Mihawk blew a raspberry at her which caused to her to start giggling uncontrollably. He smiled, bringing her into his arms. She continued giggling, pulling on his bare cheeks.

Shanks noticed the two and saw that Mihawk was genuinely happy and decided he wouldn't interrupt them, instead he was taught how to play the racing game that the children had been playing all day. He could spend time with the cold man later. He grinned to himself, glad that he would finally be able to be at peace of mind.


	7. Chapter 7

Short chapter bc I'm busy, but wanted to update. Thank you for your support!

Mihawk had very mixed feelings about his current situation. He had a glare carefully placed on his face as he watched the children kick Shanks' butt in the game they were playing. The man whined about them not playing fair and how they were taking advantage of him. Mihawk immediately started to regret his actions, fearing that this was just going to end up hurting him more than benefiting him.

Perona had left to go to Nami who doted on her endlessly. The orange haired girl could just not have enough of the cute child. She made sure to be carrying her at all times and if anyone said anything, she would make sure to tell them off viciously.

Shanks got up and sat himself beside Mihawk nonchalantly, knocking the man out of thought. Mihawk glared at him, his arms and legs crossed.

"We should go on a da-"

"I refuse."

Shanks gave Mihawk an exasperated sigh, crossing his own arms.

"Why?" He whined, further annoying Mihawk.

Mihawk didn't say anything, wondering why to himself as well. The idea didn't sound bad, and he was sure he would enjoy it, but he just didn't want to go on a date.

After a long period of silence, Shanks sighed, resorting to placing his hand atop Mihawk's. This man obviously wasn't comfortable with his situation, he could see that much. Mihawk continues glaring at him which upset him. Of course, he knew that just saying that they were going out wasn't going to melt away Mihawk's personal issues, but it would be nice if the man could soften up a bit.

"So… do we tell the kids or what?" Shanks asked, trying to spark up a conversation. Mihawk wished that Shanks would at least talk about something that wasn't the weak relationship they had formed. He looked at the red haired man and then at the backs of the children who were shouting at each other and then shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shanks raised his eyebrow, trying not to sigh. This guy was difficult to talk to.

"If you would like to, go ahead. I have no problem," Mihawk answered, closing his eyes and shifting so that he was sitting with his legs crossed on the sofa. He rested his head on the armrest but found it to be too uncomfortable so he pulled his hand away from Shanks in order to use his arm as a pillow. Shanks watched him as he rested. The man frowned even when he tried relaxing.

Shanks sighed, shifting in his seat when Mihawk continued talking, "In my opinion, we could just go about normally and if they question anything, we'll tell them."

Shanks grinned, glad that Mihawk had actually thought about it. He was indeed going to be difficult to get to open up, but Shanks had no issues with that.

"Stop staring at me…" Mihawk mumbled, grabbing a pillow and placing it over his head. This only caused Shanks to continue grinning at him and also provoked Shanks into poking his side. Mihawk jumped, hitting his head on the wall next to his head. Shanks sat with a blank face as Mihawk tried to calm his breathing and give him yet another glare.

"Daddy's ticklish. He hates when people do that. He'll kill you now," Zoro rolled his eyes as he walked out of the kitchen with a few bags of popcorn. Shanks gave the boy a lopsided smirk, thanking him for the advice. Zoro's face twitched at the sight of the man smiling at him and he stalked away.

Immediately after, he felt Mihawk grab onto his collar, his fist raised ready to punch him square in the face. Shanks held his hand up, laughing at Mihawk's reaction. His face was filled with pure irritation. Mihawk gritted his teeth. Why was this man laughing? Mihawk slowly put his fist down, breathing out.

He didn't know why he was getting so riled up all of a sudden. He usually had a handle on his composure. He never snapped so easily unless someone had hurt his children or had gotten in his way. A horrifying thought crawled into his mind as he tried calming down. Maybe he wanted to get along with Shanks. Maybe he wanted to let the man in on his secrets and life. Maybe he wanted to make use of the opportunity to be happy.

Shanks saw that Mihawk had gone deep into thought and sighed. He wished he could help, but knew it was way too early to share any personal issues. He didn't want to rush the sensitive man into anything. He said nothing, moving just close enough so that their shoulders touched. Mihawk tensed up and relaxed in an instant, not even mustering a glare this time around. They sat in silence for several minutes before Shanks decided it was time to leave. He stood up and told the Luffy, Sanji and Nami that they should go.

Mihawk stood up as well and walked them to the door. As Shanks waited for the kids to put on their shoes, he met stares with Mihawk. He grinned at him, squeezing his shoulder. Mihawk gritted his teeth and moved forward, pecking him extremely quickly and mumbling, "I'm sorry I'm going to be difficult. I need to know you're prepared for that. I don't want a stupid fling."

Mihawk would not meet Shanks' eyes, but the red haired man smiled, nodding.

"Well, at least we've already agreed to one thing," He told the awkward man. Mihawk swallowed, turning his head. He saw the children staring at them in disgust.

"Ew! They're doing the thing!" Luffy cried out.

Nami slammed her fist into Luffy's head, screaming, "Shut up! I want that when I'm a grown up too!"

Sanji looked rather confused, "But I like girls. Is that okay?"

Shanks laughed at them loudly, grinning as he answered the boy, "Sanji, it's okay to like anyone you want. There's no wrong or right, okay?"

Sanji smiled, nodding, turning to Nami, "Okay, Nami. I like you!"

Nami stared at him blankly while holding Perona, "And I don't like you."

Mihawk stifled a chuckle at the girl's quick response. She was very feisty and quick to speak her mind. She seemed to take care of her friends very well, taking charge and making sure they didn't get into trouble. She also found ways to blame them every time something went wrong. She was a quick thinker.

Zoro wasn't affected by the interaction between the two men, shrugging it off. It didn't really matter to him who his father was with as long as he was happy and as long as they were nice to him and Perona. He and Perona hadn't had a problem with Shanks as of yet, though Perona did get very clingy when people came too close to her father. She hadn't noticed them as she had been occupied with Nami.

Soon the rowdy group left, allowing Mihawk to finally breathe.

He looked at Perona and Zoro who had taken to finishing the rest of the snacks that had been laid out throughout the duration of the visit. He raise an eyebrow, all at once feeling very instructed them to get ready for sleep, trusting that Zoro would help Perona as he went on to go to sleep himself. Yet another physically and emotionally draining day had been handed to him on a platinum platter.

There were a lot of things that worried Mihawk. He didn't want Zoro and Perona to feel suffocated. He didn't want to be hurt. He didn't want to be provoked into moving again. He didn't want to piss off Shanks in any way but was sure he would because Mihawk wouldn't lie, he was indeed a very difficult person to get along with. He sighed, trying to clear his mind and sleep. He had to go to work, so any lack of sleep would take a toll on him. He found that he was, against all odds, actually able to sleep. He had no trouble resting himself, and he didn't want to wake up the next morning, so he called in sick, using the rest of the time he had to sleep in.

Perona and Zoro had at some point found themselves in his room and under his blanket, fighting over who got to have which pillow. He ignored them, content with where he was. Though he had so much to think about, he was at peace of mind.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for your support!

Mihawk was at work but found he was unable to concentrate. He had left Perona and Zoro with Shanks who had insisted he didn't mind looking after them until he got back from work. Mihawk had this idea that Shanks was very reckless and would probably get his kids drunk or something thinking that it would be funny. At the thought, he immediately froze. He tried calming himself down, telling himself it was okay. Luffy and Zoro would be playing and if Nami was with them, Perona would be occupied with her.

"Yo, Dracule, what's with the face? You look even more like a zombie today that you do on a regular basis," One of his coworkers asked, an amused smile plastered on their face. He refused to acknowledge them, regaining his composure, which was a blank face. The co worker got bored of him and soon left to go speak to his friends. Mihawk didn't like any of them, they were very annoying and were too nosy for his taste.

His work days would pass by a bit quicker now that he had gotten used to the routine, but they were still too slow for his comfort. A few more months, he would tell himself. Then he could work from home without any issues, which was something he looked forward to greatly.

Meanwhile, Shanks was occupied with babysitting the children run about. Yasopp was over, and Bellemere was going to come over after she had run some errands.

"We should go hunting, haven't done that in a while," Yasopp suggested, lazily lying on the couch opposite of Shanks.

Shanks glanced at him from the couch he was lying on and raised his eyebrows in agreement, "That sounds like it'll be fun. Ben and the others can come too."

"You're boyfie can come too.," Yasopp grinned at the look of disgust on Shanks' face.

"Yasopp, please never say that again. I think I threw up in my mouth," He gagged at his friend. Yasopp laughed at his reaction. Shanks had told Yasopp about the situation with Mihawk as soon as he had gotten home that night. His friend hadn't really cared but was glad that he had finally gotten somewhere. He had been going on about that hawk guy for so long, Yasopp felt like he would tear his ears off.

Shanks gave him a childish look, "You know what? I'll ask him. And then we can prank him."

Yasopp rolled his eyes, grinning, liking the idea. Before he could reply, Zoro had jumped onto Shanks' holding onto him for dear life.

"I win!" He shouted triumphantly. Luffy and Usopp ran into the room, breathing heavily.

"That's… not… fair! You're bigger than us!" Luffy complained, turning to Yasopp, "Right, Uncle Yasopp?"

Yasopp raised his eyebrow, "Well, were you the one who challenged him?"

The question stumped Luffy who pursed his lips, refusing to admit that he had indeed challenged the boy.

"Well, if you challenged him, then you should've been prepared," Shanks said, laughing as Zoro got off of him. Zoro had a cocky smirk on his face, loving that he had won. Luffy and Usopp had it coming, what with how they had claimed he would be unable to beat them.

Shanks laughed when he saw Luffy was squeezing a red clown nose. He had stolen Buggy's favorite trinket again, and the man would no doubt show up at his doorstep throwing a temper tantrum again. He looked around wondering where Nami and Perona were. Yasopp had beat him, questioning the boys as to where the girls were. They were apparently in Luffy's room, playing with his toys.

"I swear that girl hates me…" Shanks sunk into the sofa cushions.

"What, how would you know that?" Yasopp rolled his eyes.

"I'm on her shit list. She's like two or something, and she already has a shit list. She's going to get me one day," He complained, pushing his hair back from his face.

"What did you even do?"

"I don't even know. She's gonna make me symmetrical or something, watch," Shanks joked.

Yasopp laughed at his stupid joke. The man had gotten over losing his arm a few years earlier and didn't mind using it as a means of humor every once in a while.

There was a loud pounding on the door to which Shanks mused, "Now I wonder if that's Bellemere or Buggy…"

"You're on both of their shit lists anyways, so it makes no difference," Yasopp shrugged, refusing to get up and answer the door. Shanks also didn't want to get up. so the two just layed on the sofas, waiting for the other to get up. Finally Shanks got up, throwing a pillow at Yasopp and made his way to the door.

He answered it and was blessed by the sight of his blue haired companion seething, ready to stab him.

"Where the hell is that snot-nosed brat? I'm gonna fucking thrash him!" Buggy threatened.

Shanks stared at him blankly then broke into a grin, "Yo, Buggy. Been a while, huh?"

"What the hell do you mean, 'Been a while'?! I saw you yesterday! Now hand over that brat!" Buggy screamed at him, stamping his foot like a child. Shanks laughed at him and invited him in.

"Wanna have a drink or someth-"

"Ew! Clown face!" Luffy screamed in disgust when he met stares with his father's best friend. Buggy gave him a twitching smile, clenching his fist.

"I'm gonna give you five seconds to give it back to me or you'll be skewered," Buggy told him shakily.

"Five… Four…"

Shanks sighed, going back to the couch so he could lie down again. Yasopp had fallen asleep, not very interested in Buggy's antics.

"Three… Two…"

Luffy blew a raspberry at the man who immediately snapped, "I'm going to wring your neck!"

Zoro stared as the man chased Luffy with the intent to kill. He didn't know if he should interfere or not, and soon resorted to going over to Shanks and sitting on his chest, a habit he had built with Mihawk. He would sit on Mihawk's chest when he tried sleeping so that he would stay awake and talk to him.

"Yo, Zoro. What's up?" Shanks smiled at him.

"Who's that?" Zoro asked as he watched Usopp stealthily place a book in front of Buggy's path, causing the enraged man to fall.

"Him? He's Buggy. I guess you could say he's like my brother," Shanks told him, shifting so that he was a bit more comfortable. Zoro tilted his head and rolled his eyes, watching the two children prank the man endlessly, pissing him off even more so than he already was.

Shanks laughed when Buggy let out a shriek, finally grabbing Luffy and lifting him up with the back of his shirt. Zoro immediately jumped off of Shanks and ran behind Buggy, kicking him in the back of the knee, making his leg give out. At that exact moment, Mihawk had walked through the door which had been left open. He was met by the sight of a laughing Shanks lazily lying on his sofa, Yasopp sleeping on the other, and Buggy collapsing on the floor after Zoro kicked him, making him release Luffy.

Shanks saw Mihawk and sat up, smiling and unsure of how to explain what was going on.

"Zoro," Mihawk sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Zoro looked to see his father looking at him in a disappointed manner,

"Don't worry about it," Shanks grinned, walking over to him, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. Mihawk's eye twitched at how nonchalant the man was acting.

"He was gonna hurt Luffy…" Zoro mumbled, blushing as he was a bit embarrassed to have upset his father.

"I hate your kids…" Buggy groaned as he took the clown nose from Luffy and put it in his pocket. Shanks laughed at him, and Mihawk moved the man's arm off of his shoulders.

Buggy got up and glared at the children. He then noticed Mihawk and raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?"

Mihawk stared at the man, unsure of what to do, therefore he kept his cold demeanor up. Buggy rolled his eyes when the man didn't answer.

"Whatever, I'm busy. Keep your brat away from my stuff, Shanks," He said as he glared at Luffy who stuck his tongue out at him. Shanks smiled, nodding, saying he couldn't make any promises. Buggy then left them, grumbling to himself.

"Yo, Takanome," Yasopp greeted Mihawk with the nickname the group had given him. Mihawk nodded at the man but didn't sit down when they prompted him to, saying he was just going to pick up Zoro and Perona then leave.

Yasopp disagreed with the man, saying that he would leave as it was time for him and Usopp to go visit Usopp's mother who was in the hospital. Mihawk was going to object but then stopped, sighing to himself. Yasopp and Usopp left, leaving him with Shanks and their kids.

Nami was still playing around with Perona who had taken a great liking to her. Luffy and Zoro had taken to watching some movie in the living room.

Shanks and Mihawk sat in silence for a long time, neither was unsure if the other was watching the movie or just lost in thought. Finally, Shanks sighed, clutching his left shoulder.

"You know, it was really horrifying…" He started. He wasn't really sure why, but he just thought he would tell Mihawk about it.

Mihawk turned to him, looking him straight in the eye. He then glanced at his arm, or what was left. The man was wearing a button up and had the left sleeve tied up in a neat knot so as to not be too bothered by the loose piece of cloth.

~flashback~

The loud crashing of shelves and different items throughout the store were complemented with the shouting of people. A gang had infiltrated the small store. Shanks immediately tried finding a small space for Luffy to hide in, he told the young boy to stay put. He covered the small opening with a clothing rack and just before one of the men had turned the corner to find them, he hid behind a large shelf.

Several people were crying, and he heard people pleading for them to spare their lives. He kept trying to see what was going on, a woman and her children had been cornered by a man with a mask on. She kept pleading for him to not harm her children. Shanks was overwhelmed with anger at how cowardly these people were, but what he saw next had instilled fear beyond any other within him.

Luffy had crawled out of his space and had been spotted by the man.

"No!" He screamed. The man had gotten irritated and kicked the boy. The woman screamed, trying to cover Luffy. The man had laughed, calling her several vulgar things before pulling out a handgun. He cocked it and pointed it at Luffy's head. The woman was trying not to sob, telling her own children to stay where they were.

The man pulled the trigger, and Shanks wasn't able to hold him down from where he was, so instead he jumped in front of them, getting shot several times in the left arm. He groaned, the pain was overwhelming, but the adrenaline kicked in and he ignored it, knocking the man down and taking his gun. A few more gang members showed up, and had started freaking out. Apparently the man had been their boss, and he was the only one with a gun.

Shanks had an angry expression as he pointed the gun towards them.

"Get down!" He yelled at them. He continued to hold on, even though he felt himself slipping due to the pain and loss of blood.

"Stay back!" He firmly ordered a crying Luffy who was being consoled by the woman. She had tears streaming down her face as she thanked Shanks endlessly. Several people were calling the cops, and he just had to stay conscious until then. He moved so that no one could see the injuries in his limp arm. Finally the cops and an ambulance had arrived and as the gang members were arrested, Shanks was taken to the hospital hastily.

There was no way to save his arm, the bones had shattered completely and they would have to amputate it, which was what he'd been told. At that point he just hadn't cared. Those people were okay. That was all that he honestly cared about.

Luffy had visited him and was sobbing endlessly. Shanks attempted cheering up the child by giving him his strawhat, which he had received from someone close to him. The child refused to leave his side, and he had decided that he would take care of him.

Getting used to one arm was going to take him a while, but he knew he would be able to work it out. He didn't regret his actions, and if he had to, he would repeat them.

~flashback end~

Mihawk said nothing, though he was very surprised it didn't strike him as odd that Shanks would have done something like that. The man was too kind for his own good. Mihawk swallowed and sighed, moving a bit closer to him, resting his head on Shanks' left shoulder. Shanks looked at him in surprise and smiled.

"It doesn't bother you, does it?" He asked Mihawk.

"Shut up, you're stupid, and I hate you," Mihawk told him, closing his eyes in contentment. He felt Shanks lightly trace his face and tried ignoring how nice it actually felt.


	9. Chapter 9

Let's just pretend Shanks' injuries were fatal, sorry hahahaha. Also Perona is now 4, her birthday was June 7 which is near when school ends, I forgot to mention that. Also there are some mature themes near the end, there is a warning. Also mature themes near end. Thanks for the support!

Summer vacation was almost over, much to the children's opposition. Zoro had spent almost all of his summer getting close to the group of misfits he had met. Perona continued to quietly ponder on whatever brought her interest. She had asked where Bon was several time and had been told she would see him soon.

Mihawk had enrolled her into a pre school even though she was entering a year early just because he had this little fantasy that she, Zoro, and he would have graduated at the age of seventeen. He didn't know why he liked the idea so much but acted upon it anyways. He had also gotten Perona dance lessons, but she had quickly discarded the idea, not enjoying how she was being instructed. The girl was very possessive whenever Shanks was around, always making sure her father was holding her. She sometimes let Shanks hold her, but that was when her father was far away from them. Like now.

Shanks currently cradled Perona in his arm, smiling at her as she messed around with her stuffed bear in irritation. He noticed her sleeves pull up to reveal some burn scars. He had noticed them before but had never asked because he didn't want to intrude. The girl had soon fallen asleep, and he sighed, walking into his kitchen where Mihawk was washing the dishes.

He had invited Mihawk and the kids over for dinner and once done, Zoro had gone off with Luffy somewhere, and Mihawk had insisted on doing the dishes. Actually, he threatened Shanks, telling him not to argue with him, so Shanks had been in his living room entertaining Perona.

Mihawk looked up to see the taller red haired man walk over to him, his pink haired girl sound asleep in his hold. He almost smiled but fought the urge, going back to the dishes. He felt Shanks' side press against his side lightly. The tanner man hummed, lowering his head to rest on the side of Mihawk's head. If there was one thing Mihawk had learned in their relationship, it was that Shanks was a very physical person. The man loved holding hands, caressing his cheek, rubbing his back, anything. It took a while to get used to. Mihawk still flinched if the contact came out of nowhere, but he slowly got used to it and let Shanks do what he was doing.

"Why don't you stay the night, hm?" Shanks asked, shifting Perona's weight. His arm was falling asleep, but he didn't want to put her down.

Mihawk raised an eyebrow at him and stayed silent for a few moments, focusing on the dishes. He was almost done. Shanks stared at him and nudged his side, giving him a hopeful look. Mihawk looked at him oddly and sighed through his nose, nodding and drying his hands. Shanks grinned, cheerfully whispering, "Yes! Sleepover!"

Mihawk slid his hand over his face, trying to wipe the exhaustion off and failed in the attempt. Shanks led him back to the living room where they both sat on the sofa. Mihawk took Shanks from Perona and cradled her gently. He couldn't help but softly smile at the little girl in his arms. She was his little girl.

Shanks stayed silent, enjoying the rare moment of content on Mihawk's often distraught or cold face. He moved a bit closer, wrapping his arm around Mihawk's shoulders and moving him a bit closer in order to rest his face in Mihawk's neck. Mihawk said nothing, allowing the man to do as he pleased. He heard Luffy and Zoro arguing from Luffy's room and sighed, "They're not going to sleep at all."

Shanks laughed a bit, his breath made Mihawk's neck tingle. He pulled the man closer, slowly moving his thumb around his shoulder. Mihawk sighed as he tried ignoring Shanks. He looked at Perona and drowned when he saw her sleeves up. She hated when they showed and so she always wore long sleeves. She hated anything that exposed her skin. It hurt him that a child so young was concerned with her appearance. It hurt him that she had something that made her feel awkward and unbeautiful. He shakily sighed, lightly pulling at her sleeves in order to bring them down. Shanks immediately noticed and sighed; stopping what he was doing and letting Mihawk do what he was doing.

Mihawk swallowed and sighed, shifting uncomfortably.

"When you bring a child into this world, they're supposed to be your world, right? The reason for your existence?" He questioned, bringing Perona closer to him. Shanks nodded, mumbling a "yes" as he stared at Mihawk who continued looking at his daughter.

"Her mother had set their home on fire. She was only about three months old then," He swallowed, rubbing his thumb on her chubby cheek.

Shanks' eyes widened and he sat up straight, "You don't have to talk about this."

Mihawk ignored him an slowly continued, "It's a miracle she survived. She wasn't going to make it, they said she'd be unable to deal with the burns and that her lungs had been blackened..."

"The woman was a demon. She cursed Perona for having taken away everything good in her life. I don't understand that. Perona couldn't even think for herself. How would something so small be able to ruin someone's life? She chose to have her... The woman was crazy. She set the house on fire then went to her front yard, doused herself in gasoline and set herself on fire. She survived, but I don't know what she's doing or where she is... Do you know how anxious that makes me? What if she does this to more children? I..." Mihawk trailed off, emotionally exhausted from pouring out his thoughts. No one ever listened to him, so he didn't talk, but Shanks just somehow made him speak for hours on end about nothing and the man listened.

Shanks sighed, getting up.

"Let's go to bed. You're tired, and it's late."

Mihawk smirked a bit, since when did Shanks care about it being too late? He didn't question him as he got up, holding onto Perona.

Zoro and Luffy ran out into the room when they noticed the lights turn off. Luffy was about to yell something, but Zoro covered his mouth, telling him Perona was asleep. Once Luffy understood, Zoro got rid of his hand and whispered, "Don't yell!"

"Okay! Psst, Daddy! Are they leaving?" Luffy obnoxiously whispered to Shanks who in turn whispered back just as obnoxiously, "No, we're having a sleep over, but Daddy and Mihawk are tired, so I need you two to be quiet and sleep, okay? Also protect Perona, she's very, very tired"

Luffy looked at Zoro who nodded and the two grinned, quickly getting dressed. Zoro had kept a pair of pajamas at their house for situations like this. The two went to Luffy's room in order to cleanse it of all monsters. Mihawk entered the room and put Perona in the second bed in Luffys room. The boy had a guest bed in his room for sleepovers, which was an odd concept to Mihawk but he didn't question it. He sighed, tucking her in and kissing head then bidding the two boys good night.

The dark haired man went to the bathroom to change into a white t-shirt and sweats. He cleaned up and left to go to Shanks' room, closing the door behind them. The man had already sprawled sloppily onto the bed, his arm and legs flailed in all directions. Mihawk grimaced at the sight but joined the man anyways. Shanks rolled over on his side and grinned at Mihawk. Mihawk in turn raised his eyebrow, he thought Shanks would be a bit more sad after their semi serious conversation, or rather Mihawk's one sided revelation.

Shanks stare at him, still smiling and then wrappers his arm around Mihawk's waist, pulling him close into his tan chest. The man never slept with a shirt on. Mihawk didn't know how he pulled it off. He, for one, would get way too cold to ever sleep without a shirt on.

The red haired man pressed his lips against Mihawk's, kissing him gently. Mihawk tensed up, and shakily calmed down, returning the kiss as he slid one arm under Shanks' left arm, gripping his shoulder from behind and placing his other hand on the back of Shanks' head. He felt Shanks smirk in through the kiss and felt himself refrain from the urge of clawing at the man's face.

Mihawk bit Shanks' lip just hard enough to emit a childish whine from the man, which allowed Mihawk to enter his mouth and explore it slowly. Shanks turned onto his back, bringing Mihawk on top of him. The paler man continued to slowly kiss him, taking his time to get comfortable with the sensation. It killed Shanks that Mihawk worked slowly at this, but he didn't question or force him into anything. If he wanted to pace slowly, the he has no issues.

Warning: MATURE THEMES

Shanks felt a warmth somewhere in his lower body start to build up and groaned in the middle of their kiss.

"Shut up, or they'll come in here..." Mihawk panted lightly, moving on to place kisses on Shanks' neck and down to his chest. Shanks bit down a moan, gasping when Mihawk kissed right above his belly button. He buckled his hips a bit, catching Mihawk by surprise. Mihawk noticed a rather prominent bulge in his partner's sweatpants and stopped, feeling a bit nervous. He inhaled and exhaled reminding himself that Shanks wasn't him and that Shanks treated him right.

Shanks noticed Mihawk's hesitance and moved his hand lower, trying to make him look up, "If you aren't ready, then we don't have to..."

Mihawk smirked, running his hands down Shanks' sides, causing the man to buckle again. Mihawk continued running his hands slowly up and down Shanks' body, caressing the scarred stump lightly. He then slowly pulled Shanks' sweats down, exposing his stiff member. Mihawk soon noticed the burning pain in his own and gulped, trying to get himself to calm down. Shanks stared at him, worried but let out a gasp when he felt Mihawk's warm mouth engulf him. He worked slowly at first, getting a feel of him and getting a steady pace. His tongue slowly licked his member all around, making sure to have touched it all.

Shanks gasped and panted, biting down curses of pleasure. It felt so good to have this, and he felt himself go in a daze, ready to come. Mihawk had quickened his pace, pumping with his hand as well as with his mouth.

Shanks felt his hips buckle as he was almost about to release, but the door to the bedroom opened, causing the two men to jerk up in surprise. Shanks quickly pulled the blanket over them, which was a stupid idea because Mihawk was now completely under the blanket and had to move up. They looked over to see a tired Perona sluggishly drag over to them and crawl up between them and immediately fall asleep.

Mihawk looked at Shanks who wore the same blush he did. Shanks cleared his throat and grinned, "She really does hate me, huh?"


	10. Chapter 10

I love your reviews thanks all

Mihawk woke up to the sound of a crash and Luffy and Zoro laughing uncontrollably. He glanced to his side to see Perona holding onto Shanks' chest tightly; the man had his arm wrapped around her gently. The two were sound asleep. Mihawk found himself staring at the two in amusement, but the sound of chaos outside coaxed him into getting up. He had been surprised that the boys had slept at night, but now they were running wild.

He walked out of the bedroom to find Zoro sitting on Luffy, crossing his arms and Luffy mumbling something incoherently. Mihawk raised his eyebrow, shook his head, then went to the bathroom to wash up. Once he was done, he walked back outside.

"Zoro, don't bully him," He sighed, as he brewed some coffee for himself. He saw dishes in the sink, meaning that the boys had already eaten. How long had they been awake?

"I'm not bullying him!" Zoro exclaimed as he had Luffy in a friendly choke hold. The younger boy struggled, calling him a liar and saying something about how Ace would beat him up. Mihawk wondered who this Ace was for a split second but then dismissed the thought when he felt an arm wrap around his waist.

"Get off of me. You have morning breath." He firmly said, stepping out of Shanks' hold. The older man looked at him, upset.

"That's not fair!" He whined, trying to get to Mihawk, who continued refusing any of the man's affection. Finally Shanks gave in and went to the bathroom to clean up. As soon as he entered the bathroom, Perona walked out of the bedroom, confused as to why she had been left alone in a strange and unfamiliar room. She saw her brother and clumsily waddled over to him.

Zoro grinned, hugging her and saying good morning. Luffy greeted her as well, but she ignored him, holding onto her brother.

"Hey, 'Rona. Don't sleep on me. That's what beds are for," Zoro said gently, petting her messy hair. Mihawk felt a sense of pride at how the young boy was handling his sister. He didn't push her away or try to act cool in front of Luffy. He treated her dearest, refusing to let her think otherwise. She was their princess. Mihawk continued to watch his kids interact with Luffy. He knew that Zoro would eventually help Perona clean up, so he didn't fret.

Shanks exited the bathroom and greeted the children, getting two enthusiastic cheers and a weak glare. Before Shanks could do anything, Perona spotted Mihawk and quickly scurried over to him without a second thought. Mihawk was taken by surprise as he had been sipping at his coffee, and the girl came out of nowhere, He almost spilled his coffee but refrained from doing so. He looked at her then at the red haired man who had his lips pursed together. Shanks walked over to the two and crouched down.

"C'mon, Perona. You can't hate me forever," He joked, smiling at the girl who clung at her father's leg. She glared at him and stuck her tongue out. Shanks frowned and then looked at her in interest when she reached her hand out towards his face. She grabbed onto his wet hair and tugged at it. He let out a whine, trying to get her to release his now messed up hair.

"Perona, baby, go to big brother. He'll help you, okay?" Mihawk softly said, releasing her hand from his lover's hair. The little girl looked at him skeptically but followed his instructions, going to Zoro who helped her without question.

Mihawk sighed and turned to Shanks who sat on the tiled floor, a frown on his face. He looked rather upset and broken.

"I don't want her to hate me…" He sighed, blinking quickly. He had teared up all of a sudden and laughed, shaking his head. Mihawk said nothing as he got up from his chair and sat beside the man on the floor. He continued sipping his coffee nonchalantly. Shanks humphed and took Mihawk's mug from him and took a gulp, only to regret his actions because the liquid was scalding hot.

"There's a reason as to why people sip hot drinks," Mihawk closed his eyes, taking his mug and sipping the coffee. It was a Sunday, meaning it was a lazy day. He was still in his sweats and t-shirt, refusing to dress up if there was no point in it. Shanks complained about how his tongue felt numb and whined about how Mihawk was a boring old man.

Mihawk rolled his eyes, finishing his coffee and getting up. He washed the dishes quickly and helped Shanks up.

"We should take the kids out for dinner today," Shanks mused, stroking his facial hair lightly as he smiled at his thought. Mihawk raised an eyebrow and shrugged, not really caring. He went to the living room to see Luffy was trying to feed Perona a granola bar and Zoro was trying to braid her hair. He instantly felt at home. It felt so normal and perfect. He wouldn't mind seeing this everyday. Shanks followed behind him, talking about the different restaurants in the area.

"Okay, then, since you have no objections, we'll go tonight at seven! No backin' outta this one!" Shanks grinned, placing his arm around Mihawk's shoulders and kissing the man sweetly. Mihawk tensed up, not returning the kiss. Shanks immediately pulled back, concerned. The amber eyed man didn't make eye contact as he buried his face into Shanks' chest. The two were now just sitting on the couch in silence. The children hadn't noticed the rather awkward air around them. Mihawk pulled away and scratched the tip of his nose. Shanks laughed, punching Mihawk lightly in the arm. The man flinched and glared at him.

Zoro and Luffy bounced over to them, wondering what they were doing. Shanks, being the gullible guy he was, started to blush a bit as he remembered the scene from the previous night. They'd never actually finished. He glanced over at Mihawk who had caught the attention of the boys.

"Zoro said you have a giant sword in your room!" Luffy exclaimed, excited. Mihawk gave Zoro a questioning look and the boy just turned away, refusing to look back at his father.

"Show me!" Luffy groaned, trying to pull Mihawk off of the couch. The man would not budge an inch. Mihawk looked at Shanks, wondering why the man's face was a dark pink, and gave him a look, asking him to get the boys off of him. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy playing with them, he just felt tired. He had been feeling tired a lot lately. Physically, he found himself unable to sleep for days, even if Shanks was with him. If he did get the opportunity to sleep, the next day he would feel even more exhausted, as if he had been working all day and night.

Shanks nodded, catching their attention by telling them they would be eating out. The boys got extremely excited. Perona wandered over, wondering why they were being so loud. She didn't really know what was going on but decided to ignore them and go over to her stuffed toys in the corner. Mihawk exhaled through his nose as Shanks was dragged away by the boys, who wanted him to play a racing video game with them. He looked back at Mihawk and gave him a reassuring smile, whispering, "Try to sleep, I'll keep them quiet."

Mihawk was surprised that the man had noticed he was tired. He knew that Shanks wasn't stupid, in fact he was very perceptive, but sometimes he was just hopeless. He found himself back where he started, in bed, this time lying awake in agony because the caffeine was doing its job and keeping him wide awake. He groaned, trying to make the room as dark as possible without having to put the blanket over his face. Eventually he tired out and was able to sleep only to be shaken awake by Shanks.

"C'mon, we're gonna go now," He smiled, trying to get Mihawk to sit up. The man scowled and got up, getting dressed. He was actually hungry, so he didn't mind being awake. The children waited outside and once the two adults exited the house, they got in the car, and drove toward the restaurant.

Mihawk felt a bit uncomfortable when Shanks held his hand but said nothing. The two got many mixed looks but ignored them skillfully. They were brought to a table and given menus.

"I want the one with most meat!" Luffy exclaimed from across the table, pointing at pictures of the dishes which met his criteria. Zoro examined the menu with him, trying to figure out what he wanted. Perona, who sat in between Shanks and Mihawk, looked confused, not really understanding why the two were so excited about the pictures. They were stupid.

Shanks laughed, telling them they could order whatever they wanted as long as they ate it. This led Zoro and Luffy to excitedly look for any and every dish they wanted. Mihawk rolled his eyes, he knew that those three would order an excess amount of food so he would just eat from what they picked. Shanks urged him to pick something, but he refused. Soon they ordered their food and waited for its arrival.

They were talking amongst themselves. Zoro and Luffy were talking about how it was taking too long for the food to arrive. Perona held onto Mihawk's hand while glaring at Shanks who pinched her cheek and joked with Mihawk about being too tense.

They heard a groan of disgust and glanced over at a booth across from them. A lone man was looking at the group in disgust. (Note: not a cannon character just some guy) Shanks ignored him, and continued talking idly with Mihawk as if the man wasn't currently glaring daggers at them.

"Disgusting…" The man finally spoke a few minutes later, obviously targeting them. He spoke low enough that Zoro and Luffy didn't catch it through their heated discussion. Shanks turned his head and stared at him with a raised eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You're disgusting." The man firmly said, continuing, "Why are you even here?"

Before Shanks could say anything, a woman from the booth in front of the man's groaned in irritation, "Oh, my god. Are you joking?"

The man had to turn around to meet the glare of a young woman. She sat directly behind him, and a table separated her from a young man wearing glasses who also looked upset.

"What? Do you agree with them?" The man questioned her.

"What the hell do you mean, do I agree with them? They're here to eat. Leave them alone. Were in hell did you think you had the right to even say anything to them?" She was extremely pissed off as she clenched her fist.

"They're fags," The man justified his actions.

She gritted her teeth, turning to stare at her date, her eyes tearing up. Her date sighed and the man questioned him as well, "What? You're not uncomfortable?"

The man with glasses stood up, "No. You're making my girl upset. If you don't stop, I'm going to call the manager."

They had caught the attention of several people around them. Many of them muttered under their breath, some agreeing with the man and some disagreeing with him.

"I can't even eat with them here. They have kids, what're they doing to them? Brainwashing them, that's what," The man said, pushing away his food, disgusted. The man with the glasses scowled, leaving to find the manager.

The woman grit her teeth but looked at Zoro, "Hey, little boy. Cover your brother's eyes. Red hair, make sure the girl can't see us."

Shanks raised his eyebrow and looked at Perona who was trying to unclench her father's fist. Mihawk looked rather upset but didn't say anything, wanting to just leave. Zoro looked concerned but did as he was told, feeling he shouldn't object. Luffy was questioning him, but didn't fight, thinking it was a game. Shanks moved so that his body covered Perona's view.

The woman mouthed 'thanks' and what happened next left everyone in the area silent. The woman swiftly spun, grabbing the man's shoulder from across the booth, turning him around and knocking him square in the face. He groaned out in surprise and pain as his nose bled. The woman's breathing was labored as she finally sighed, calming down.

"You have no fucking right." She growled at him, sitting back down and crossing her arms as she waited for her boyfriend. The conversation in the restaurant had died down. Zoro stared at the woman with his mouth open. He hadn't known what was happening, but he was sure the man had pissed her off in someway that had to do with him and his family. Shanks stared at her in slight fear and Mihawk's eyes widened. No one had ever really defended him. This was a new experience.

The man cursed at her endlessly but to no avail. The woman waited patiently as she kept wiping at tears. Zoro didn't know why, but he got up and walked to her, putting his hand on her arm, getting her attention. He hugged and mumbled a thank you. She hugged him back and sniffed. Her boyfriend came back with the manager and the situation had been explained. After several fierce arguments, the couple got up without even touching their food. The woman looked at Shanks and Mihawk and said, "Do not listen to bastards like him. You're a beautiful couple and the children are perfect. I'm sure most of us agree."

She and her boyfriend left, clearly upset, not accepting any apologies from the manager because it wasn't his fault.

The manager apologized to Shanks and Mihawk profusely. Mihawk asked if the food could just be packaged to take home. Shanks didn't argue with him as they got their food and left. Zoro was quiet much to Luffy and Mihawk's worry. When they walked out of the restaurant, the breeze hit them wildly. Mihawk felt lighter and less suffocated. He had been thanking the couple in his head throughout the whole ordeal and it felt good to finally be outside.

Shanks sighed, gripping his hand, "Let's have a picnic at the park. No one will be there."

Mihawk nodded, holding his hand a bit tighter. They arrived at the park and set out the food on the table. The children ate it enthusiastically. Shanks was worried about Mihawk. He had been quiet and tense all night. The man fed Perona, wearing a small smile for she was struggling but also trying to eat by herself. Shanks sighed, getting up to sit by Mihawk's side.

Mihawk didn't give any sign of recognition to him. He focused on the wind and the sound of the leaves rustling. Perona giggled when she tried to feed her father who ate the food without argument. Shanks smiled at the two. They were really cute, and it was obvious to see that they were close. Mihawk whispered something to Perona, and the girl looked at Shanks. She took some food and tried to put it in his mouth. He laughed, and let her feed him as well.

After a while, Shanks wrapped his arm around Mihawk's arm and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Shut up…"


	11. Chapter 11

Zoro sat in front of the television, absolutely mesmerized by the animated men fighting to the death. He had been watching the show about extremely powerful aliens who were protecting the earth, collecting these orange orbs which summoned an all powerful dragon. His father wasn't home to disapprove of the violence as he was apparently on a date with Shanks. Bon was babysitting him and his sister.

The teen was busy trying to get Perona to eat, but she refused. Bon was trying everything in his power to make the food entertaining enough for the little girl, but she had taken the liberty of making his job very difficult.

"Not hungry!" Perona claimed, smacking him straight in the face with the palm of her hand. Bon laughed, wearily trying to convince her.

"Perona, you won't have any energy to dance if you don't eat," He coaxed, holding a strawberry in front of her. That got her attention. She looked concerned when she spoke, "No eat, can't dance?"

Bon nodded, smiling that she had comprehended what he had told her. She frowned and took the strawberry, eating it in a rather upset manner. She didn't want to not be able to dance. That would suck. She finished the small plate of strawberries then started pulling on Bon's sleeve, "Dance!"

The teen grinned, cleaning up after her and following her to the living room. He saw Zoro watching the show and smiled. He watched that show too, it was pretty intense, but it was probably one of the most prevalent parts of his childhood. Perona started to try and twirl. Bon helped her, taking one of her hands and spinning her. She giggled as he taught her various dances. They were simple and classic moves with a bit of bounce in them; fun and easy.

"No! Goku! What are you doing?! Wake up!" Zoro screamed, getting really irritated at how drawn out the process of the protagonist's recovery was. Bon glanced over and smiled. Perona dragged him to her brother and they sat on a pink floral bean bag.

For the next few hours, the kids just watched tv, not really doing anything. It was a hot day, so there really was no motivation to do anything but relax. Though it was well into the evening, the heat had not settled down. The phone rang and Bon went to answer it. It was Mihawk asking about how the kids were and if they were giving him any trouble. The teen smiled, enthusiastically claiming that they were no trouble at all. Mihawk then let him know that he was on his way home.

Bon let the kids know, who were rather happy because it wasn't often that they were home alone for a long period of time.

Mihawk walked into the home and thanked Bon for his work and the teen left, much to Perona's distaste. Mihawk sunk into the bean bag between his little children. He closed his eyes, relaxing but hadn't expected Zoro's question.

"How was your date?" Zoro asked him, raising his sharp eyebrow.

Mihawk stared at the boy for a second, a bit surprised that Zoro had comprehended that he went on a date. Then he dismissed the feeling, remembering that even he as a child was a bit more mature and comprehensive than others his age. Zoro was perceptive, especially when it came to his family, so there was really no surprise.

"It was good," He replied, shifting so that the squirming Perona could fit into his side.

Zoro tilted his head, glancing at the fighting figures on the tv for a few seconds then looking back at his father, "Does he make you happy?"

Mihawk raised an eyebrow, staring at his son in silence for a period of time.

"Does he?" Zoro asked, boredly watching his show once more.

Mihawk hated when Zoro did this. The boy had a tendency to ask thought provoking questions. Even though the question was simple, he felt suffocated as he thought about it. He sighed through his nose and nodded, "Yes."

Zoro looked at him again, a deep frown plastered onto his face. He stared at his father for a awhile and then turned once again.

"What's bothering you?" Mihawk asked him, not really sure how to deal with the situation.

"You'll still love us if you marry him?"

Mihawk was completely thrown off by the question. The two weren't even sure about what their relationship was and here Zoro was asking this? Was he neglecting them? Was that how Zoro felt?Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since he had even sat down with the two, even if it was to just watch an unnecessarily violent cartoon.

Zoro sighed, "You will. Never mind."

Mihawk swallowed, feeling like a shit person at the moment. He was always able to take anyone's insults, but these nonchalant answers and questions coming from this small boy hit him hard.

"I love you two more than him," He told Zoro who didn't look at him, but started to smile. The boy didn't reply to him. He looked to his side to see Perona folding his shirt in odd patterns. She hummed deafly, pulling and almost tearing at his shirt. Mihawk smiled, petting her bangs lightly. She glared at him in irritation, pushing his hand away so that she could see his shirt. After a few seconds, she glared at him again, grabbing his wrist and placing his hand on her head. Mihawk smiled, what a stubborn girl.

He sighed to himself. School would start in a few weeks. She would probably either threaten children or not speak to any of them. He was a bit worried that she would start fights just like her brother. The two were shy but would not hesitate to throw punches if they felt they were being made fun of. Mihawk found himself smiling at the thought of Perona scratching some stupid boy's eyeballs out. He then shook his head, no, bad thoughts! He was such a bad influence.

He looked at Zoro, who he wasn't even doubting would get into fights. It was inevitable. He rolled his eyes to himself, all three of them were a bit violent. He couldn't deny that even he as a child had a mean streak, always snapping at people and breaking a bone or two.

Mihawk swallowed, trying not to think too deep about his childhood, but once the thoughts started, they didn't stop. He remembered a lot of blood, screaming and crying. He remembered pale skin and blue lips at the funeral of the best of worst mothers. He remembered horrified stares and mumbles behind his back. Scars across his body felt as though they were pulsing, and he found himself breaking out in a cold sweat.

Zoro had noticed, watching his father from the corner of his eye. Perona frowned, staring at her unresponsive father, placing her hand on his cheek. Zoro sighed, turning off the tv.

"Go to sleep," He told his father, grabbing Perona and getting her ready for bed. They left their father to sit in the dark living room. Mihawk found himself feeling like shit once again, why was Zoro able to take such responsibility? He was a kid, he shouldn't have to worry about Mihawk's lowly problems. He hated that Zoro reminded him of himself when he was a child. He didn't want that at all for his child. He sighed, not putting Zoro's efforts to waste and going to bed himself.


	12. Chapter 12

I just found out Shanks is actually younger than Mihawk in cannon lol whoops anyways thanks for the reviews~

School had started once again, much to Mihawk's opposition. Sometimes he felt school was just unnecessary because most of the curriculum wasn't very helpful later on in life, but he digressed. They would just have to deal with it. Shanks had offered to take Zoro, so he was just on his way to drop Perona off. She was only going to be there for a few hours and then Bon would pick her up, possibly take her to the park while Mihawk worked.

Perona was currently trying to read the safety manual for her child seat. She sounded out certain letters, making up her own words and proudly reading her distorted sentences to him. He applauded her efforts, silently laughing at how childish she was. Soon they had arrived at the daycare/preschool. Many parents waited with their children outside. Mihawk raised his eyebrows. Some of these parents were very old compared to him. He couldn't help but silently judge them, not that they could tell.

He carried Perona outside and walked towards the small play area where he assumed that the teacher would come to meet the children. Children ran around the area, becoming familiar with the people they would grow up with for the remainder of their childhood. Some children were very outgoing while others hid behind their parents. A few parents glanced at Mihawk but none said or did anything, minding their own business.

Soon the young teacher made an appearance, welcoming the parents and children warmly, claiming they couldn't wait to spend the next year helping them. Mihawk internally scoffed. He would be damned if he had chosen an occupation which made him deal with children 24/7. He didn't hate children. He just hated them. Or well… a majority of them. He was introduced to the young woman who gladly introduced herself to Perona who just stared at her boredly. Mihawk was relieved that she wasn't crying or screaming yet. When he left, everything that happened would be something the teacher would have to deal with. Mihawk bid his daughter farewell, Perona was confused as to why her father was leaving her in such an alien place, but didn't question it when she caught sight of several stuffed toys which she would claim as hers.

Mihawk sighed as he drove home, he didn't have work today, and he only had a few more months before he could just start working from home. The thought excited him and sent shivers down his spine. He hadn't felt so happy about something so miniscule in a while. He was feeling normal now. He pulled up in his driveway and got out of his car, ready to laze around and maybe read a good book. Wine? Yes, of course.

He entered his home and breathed in the atmosphere. The albicant walls almost hugged him and the couch was just beckoning him to join it. He smirked to himself, putting his coat away and going in his room to find a book. He looked through the shelves, carefully fingering the spines of several books he had never gotten around to reading. Oh, that one looked rather interesting. He took the hardback novel and walked to the living room. He could have lied in bed, but the couch seemed to have this carefree attitude and he couldn't help but bask in it. Mihawk stopped in his tracks when he saw a certain idiot lying on the couch he had been anticipating for the past three minutes.

"What are you doing here?" Mihawk raised his eyebrows, a frown firmly placed itself on his expression. He wasn't expecting any visitors and had honestly been looking forward to a day of quiet. Shanks grinned at him, moving a bit so that Mihawk had enough space to sit down beside him. Mihawk glared at him and quickly turned on his heel to retreat to his room where he would enjoy half of his plan. Instead of lying on the couch and reading, he would lie in bed and read. This bastard would not take that away from him.

"No! Come on, Mihawk, the kids aren't around to interrupt us or anything!" Shanks laughed, grabbing a hold of Mihawk's waist. The man jokingly grinned at him. Mihawk closed his eyes, a vein slowly making itself visible on his forehead.

Shanks laughed, "Hey, you kinda look like Mingo now."

Mihawk took his book and smacked Shanks straight in the face with it. The man made a noise of surprise, letting go of him and tending to his face. He whined about how Mihawk was a jerk. Mihawk glared at him and stalked to his bedroom, but before he could close the door, Shanks caught it, gently pushing the door open.

"What's wrong?" He asked the shorter man who just continued to glare at him with an unreadable expression. Mihawk didn't avert his glare, and Shanks continued to stare back, genuinely concerned. He brought up his hand in order to place it on Mihawk's cheek. Mihawk didn't object, so he moved in close enough, bringing his face down so that their foreheads were pressing against each other. The amber eyed man swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment, sighing and placing a kiss onto the red haired man's lips.

Shanks looked at him, even more concerned. Mihawk opened his eyes and stared back at him.

"I'm mad because I was going to read a book and you decided to drop by and distract me," He firmly blamed Shanks, slowly walking backwards to the bed which awaited them patiently. Shanks smirked, pushing Mihawk onto it so that he himself was on top of Mihawk.

"Hm, so you weren't looking forward to… oh, I don't know… being alone in the house with your favorite me?" Shanks questioned, leaning in close enough to feel Mihawk's exasperated sigh. He felt proud of himself to have been able to get the man alone. It was actually very hard for the two to be alone due to the children running around and not to mention, Perona's bad habit of walking in on them in rather intimate moments.

"I hate you…" Mihawk pulled at Shanks' hair, earning a wince and then placed a hand on the back of his neck in order to push him down for a kiss. This kiss was more heated than the first as both had went in fully charged. Shanks' tongue met Mihawk's ferociously, both were trying to claim dominance and both would not give up. Shanks pulled back, grinning at how stubborn Mihawk was. He caught his breath while he admired the rather grumpy man beneath him.

"You're gonna wanna relax," He whispered, biting Mihawk's neck. Mihawk grunted, Shanks had definitely left a mark. He growled, pushing Shanks over, making sure that the man was pinned so that he was immobile. Shanks grinned, wondering what would happen. Mihawk spent no time trailing kisses down the man's chest. The idiot always wore his button ups unbuttoned, which made his job easier. He started to suck harder as he trailed down to the glorious area. Shanks bit his lip, as he suppressed a moan at the sensation building up down there. Mihawk smirked through the kisses, sucking harder as he lowered himself.

Shanks struggled to sit up, resting his back against the wall. he spread his legs a bit, allowing Mihawk to move further. Mihawk moved his hand down, pulling the fabric of Shanks' pants down. He had the most paranoid thought that Perona would walk in. He glanced over at the door to make sure the little girl wasn't staring at them in horror.

Shanks too had glanced over at the door and when he noticed Mihawk had done the the same, he chuckled. Mihawk glared up at him and removed the man's pants quickly. Shanks himself had discarded his shirt, revealing his tan and toned body. Mihawk admired him for a split second before going in to massage the man's thick member. Mihawk bit his lip harder, grabbing Mihawk's hair from behind and slowly buckling his hips back and forth. Mihawk felt heat rising both in his face and in his own member, a sense of excitement was running through his blood. He quickened his pace, reveling in the moans of the man in front of him.

Shanks' face was darkened by a deep blush, but he wasn't really embarrassed. This felt right; with Mihawk, this felt so right. He looked at the man through glazed eyes as he came into his mouth, the liquid dripped from the pale man's' lips slowly, arousing him further. He saw the bulge in Mihawk's pants and chuckled a little through his gasps. Mihawk was still fully clothed. Shanks moved forward, unbuttoning his lover's shirt, quickly taking it off. He traced the man's pale abs grinning at how beautiful he was. He followed the trail of fine hairs down to his pant and helped him take them off.

The red haired man took the liberty of stroking Mihawk's member quickly, licking it quickly. He took it into his mouth, sucking hard. Mihawk gasped, throwing his head back whilst trying to not make too much noise. he knew that that was Shanks' aim. The man loved to get reactions from him, therefore he refused to give them to him. Mihawk grunted when he came, his hips buckled violently and his body relaxed. Shanks grinned at his work, certainly proud of himself.

Shanks wasn't sure if he should make the next move. The two men hadn't gotten this far, so he was unsure about whether or not to go. Mihawk caught his breath and brought himself into Shanks' lap, bringing him in for another deep kiss. Shanks sighed in his, trailing his hand down Mihawk's back, cupping his ass . Mihawk tensed up and slowly relaxed in the kiss, refusing to acknowledge what had happened. He continued kissing Shanks. Mihawk rubbed himself against Shanks, panting slightly. Shanks looked at Mihawk in the eyes, asking, "Are you okay with this...?"

Mihawk stared back at him before discreetly nodding. Shanks kissed him before putting two of his fingers in his mouth. Mihawk licked them, coating them. Shanks removed them and replaced them with his lips while his hand trailed back, teasing Mihawk's tight hole. The man shivered, tensing up again then relaxing. Shanks slowly pushed in one finger, getting a sharp inhale from Mihawk. The man tightly wrapped his arms around Shanks' neck. Shanks waited for Mihawk to relax before slowly moving his finger in and out. He added another then another, always making sure to see to it that Mihawk was completely relaxed.

"Guh… Just do it!" Mihawk growled, clawing at Shanks' back and panting into his neck. Shanks nodded, removing his fingers and moving from Mihawk, first making sure to get Mihawk lick it so that it wouldn't hurt him too much. Shanks moved behind Mihawk, grabbing his waist from behind and positioning himself in front of the widened hole. He pressed against it once again, this time with his member. Mihawk grabbed at the sheets, gritting his teeth.

Shanks let out a sigh. The tightness around his member was incomprehensive. He began to slowly move, gradually quickening his pace. He was soon pounding into Mihawk, eliciting moans and curses from the pale man. His body was flushing in various areas, and the small suck marks decorated both of their skins.

"G- Gh… Mnh!" Mihawk tried to bite down his pleasure, but couldn't help it. It felt so good and for some reason, it didn't bother him that Shanks could hear him. Shanks gritted his teeth, panting as he continued pounding. Soon he gasped, grabbing onto Mihawk's waist tightly as he emptied himself into Mihawk who came once more. The vibrations rolled out quickly, filling both of the men with butterflies and putting them into a daze. Both of them collapsed, panting for air.

The two lie on the bed in silence, Shanks glanced at Mihawk who had his hand over his face as if he was contemplating what had just happened. His heart almost stopped.

"Wait… You didn't like that?" Shanks asked, a sense of panic filling in him. He for one had enjoyed their first time very much, even though it hadn't been full of love or something. The action was pleasurable. He didn't want Mihawk to have done so just because he wanted it. Had he not gotten consent.

"Mihawk…?" Shanks asked and was completely surprised when he heard the man stifle a sob.

"Shit, shit, shit, what did I do? I'm so sorry. What's going on? Oh, my god, please don't cry. I'm sorry. You can castrate me, just don't cry!" Shanks freaked out, sitting up and trying to comfort the man.

Mihawk shook, covering his eyes as he spoke, "Shut up."

Shanks paused, looking at the man in confusion. He felt really bad, and just wanted to know what exactly was going on.

"I'm just surprised. It felt so different…" Mihawk admitted, refusing to remove his hand from his face. Shanks looked at him in concern, cautiously bringing the blanket up and wrapping his arm around Mihawk's waist. The man didn't move.

"What do you mean?" Shanks inquired, unsure if asking would make the situation worse or better.

Mihawk brought down his hand and stared at Shanks in the eyes, his usual fierce demeanor was gone. His eyes were almost pleading. Shanks' eyes widened when he understood what Mihawk was trying to imply. He had been taken advantage of at some point of his life.

"No…" He mumbled, holding him closer.

"I'm so sorry… You know I wouldn't do something like that… Why did you agree to this? We didn't have to…" He felt like slapping himself.

Mihawk shook his head, stroking Shanks' hair, "It's okay… I trust you."

Shanks looked up, astonished. He said nothing, and soon Mihawk grabbed his book and started reading as if Shanks' head wasn't resting upon his chest, fast asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Zoro watched the two men silently. It was odd to see his father actually physically come in contact with anyone other than him or Perona. At the moment, the two adults had their backs turned to him. Shanks leaned on Mihawk, placing his chin on the man's shoulder. The two maneuvered through the kitchen flawlessly, gathering their ingredients for dinner.

Zoro sighed. He had finished his homework, and Luffy and Perona were taking a nap, so he had nothing to occupy himself with. He soon grew bored of observing his father and his friend and left to go find his wooden sword. He remembered the vague contours of a girl he once knew. She had loved swords, and at such a young age had become very fluid with using a sword. She was the best in her kendo class, and had also gained training from her father, a descendant of swordsmasters.

He remembered always wanting to catch up to her, but his little body just couldn't keep up with her. She had promised him that they would become the best. And then she had been taken away with the slip of a foot. He was young, so he couldn't comprehend what had happened and why she was never around anymore. Why she had been sleeping in that box, paler than usual, was beyond him. At this point, he had been able to deduce what happened, even though no one had told him explicitly.

He found himself trying to use his wooden sword like a real sword. He knew his father was able to use swords masterfully. He had several trophies and other awards for how skilled he was, of course.

It angered Zoro. That he was so weak. How hard was it to keep a single girl safe and alive? Honestly, how damn hard did it have to be? He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a snap. He looked to see he had handled his sword too roughly, causing it to break unevenly. He stared at the wood, no expression on his face as he tossed it to the ground and went back to the living room. SLow days were the bane of his existence. He didn't ever really notice how much he actually depended on people around him to make him feel at home.

He entered the living room to see his father standing in front of the tv looking through movies. Mihawk glanced to see Zoro and nodded at the boy before going back to skimming through the various titles. Zoro walked up to him curious of what his father was trying to find.

"I know its here…" Mihawk sighed, fingering the spines of the VHS tapes. Zoro tilted his head wondering what it was, but didn't question it. He left to the kitchen to find Shanks stirring something in a pot whilst grinning to himself. The red haired man saw him and smiled.

"Yo, Zoro! Would you mind grabbing that for me?" He asked, motioning towards a bottle of sauce. Zoro nodded, handing it to the man who poured a sickly amount into the pot. Was it safe? Zoro wondered to himself about what Shanks was doing but didn't question it. Didn't Sanji like to cook or something? His grandpa owned a restaurant. Well, he wasn't sure if the old man was actually his grandpa, but whatever. He sat himself at the small dining table and watched Shanks struggle with trying to open the bottle with one hand. Zoro raised his eyebrow. If Shanks didn't ask him for help, then he wouldn't bother himself.

Slow days were never something Zoro approached enthusiastically.

Mihawk stood looking for a movie irritably. He wasn't able to concentrate well ever since he and Shanks had been rather intimate. He knew that Shanks most likely thought not too much about it, but he himself was confused and unsure about what had happened. He wasn't saying that he didn't enjoy it, hell it had been pretty damn great, but it just made him think uncontrollably. He didn't know why it bothered him so much. He felt vulnerable, as it had just happened. He had expected it, but it still surprised him.

He was brought out of his thoughts when someone tugged at his shirt. He looked to see Perona drowsily beckon him to hold her. He felt his mind come to ease as he smiled and picked up the attention craving child. She messed around with his hair as he failed to find his movie. He sighed, sitting down while cradling her in one arm. He wondered if he gave her more attention than Zoro. The boy was always playing with his friends, and Perona was always alone, either scaring people away or in his arms. He sighed, trying not to think too deep in it.

Shanks soon announced that dinner was finished, which Luffy heard from the bedroom, completely annihilating his nap and running to the kitchen happily. He joined Zoro as the boy helped him place large portions into his plate. The two boys ate enough to feed a small village, and Mihawk didn't know how to feel about that. Mihawk carried Perona to the kitchen, lowly cooing to her, asking her what she wanted and if she would eat all of it.

Shanks found himself smiling at the interaction of the father and daughter once again. It never ceased to amaze him how relaxed the man became once his little girl was in his arms. All signs of tension and distraught were washed away once he was able to mess around with his children. His eyes met Mihawk's and the amber eyed man looked away quickly, leading Shanks to raise an eyebrow but dismiss the action.

Dinner was rambunctious as always and soon Mihawk took his children to go home. The drive was silent as Zoro and Perona had fallen asleep. Mihawk was a bit jealous that they were able to fall asleep so easily. What he would give to have that sort of peace of mind.

As he pulled up in front of their house, he noticed a person sitting on the steps to their front door. He raised his eyebrow and stared at the person for a few seconds before he pulled up in the driveway. The person noticed and stood up quickly. Zoro had woken up when he heard the door open. He watched his father go out and exited the car himself. Mihawk noticed his boy walk out and almost face palmed. He didn't want them to be outside until he knew they weren't being targeted by some serial killer. He sighed, going around to take Perona out as well, careful as to not wake her up.

"Excuse me!" The person called out, from the voice, Mihawk assumed it was a woman.

The woman waved, walking up to Mihawk quickly. Mihawk looked at her, unsure of what to do. She had a hood on and in the darkness, it was too difficult to make out any important features.

"Yes?" He asked, securely holding Perona and taking hold of Zoro's hand.

"Uh, well, I just… is it okay if I see her?" The woman asked, pointing to Perona.

At that exact moment, Mihawk's heart almost stopped. The woman's hand had uneven scars on them. Burn scars. A million thoughts raced through Mihawk's mind. A recurring one being 'I can't lose them.'

Mihawk tightened his grip on both of them, staring at the woman intensely, "No. Please leave now."

The woman seemed taken aback, not expecting such a straightforward response. She stepped forward, her atmosphere becoming more desperate.

"Please, let me just see her," She swallowed, glancing at Zoro who glared at the woman with just as much intensity.

Mihawk moved back, refusing yet again.

"If you don't leave, I will contact the police," Mihawk threatened. He wasn't above fighting her back, but his hands were full. The woman seemed to think for a second, sighing and looking at Perona longingly. She reached toward the girl again, and Zoro got irritated, snapping, "Would you just leave?!"

His yelling caused Perona to jump into consciousness. She looked startled as she stared at her big brother, wondering why he was being so loud. He was always loud when he was with Luffy, but this was another type of loud. It was an angry kind of loud, and that concerned her.

Mihawk sighed, rocking her a bit.

"Perona?" The woman shakily let out. Perona looked around trying to find who was calling for her and stared at the weird person wearing a baggy hoodie. Mihawk glared at the woman, firmly saying again, "Leave or I will contact the police."

The woman swallowed again, putting her arm down, sighing as she held in a sob. She then walked away from them, walking across the street to get into her own vehicle.

Mihawk stood in silence, his heart beat slowly starting to increase. He had broken into a sweat and his breathing was shallow. He was starting to feel panicked. Not again. Why did someone always find them? Why did this have to happen?

He quickly brought his children into the house, making sure that everything was fine. His head was pounding as he paced around the living room, trying to calm down. Zoro had noticed how distraught his father was and took it upon himself to distract Perona. He felt scared himself and ended up holding Perona while they watched a show about a talking sponge and its nautical adventures.

Zoro smiled when his sister laughed at certain parts of the cartoon. The two had taken to singing the theme song as horribly as they could. This included Perona babbling certain sounds while Zoro tried to make up his own lyrics while staying in rhythm with the song. Zoro smiled, holding his sisters hand. He would protect her.

Mihawk silently thanked the young boy. He went into the kitchen, leaning against the wall, his eyes tearing up. He tried to wipe away the fear from himself, but he was extremely shaken from the prior events. He couldn't have this again. It wasn't good for them, they couldn't live knowing that she knew where they lived. He sighed shakily as he soon made up his mind after a few hours of thought.

They had to leave.


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks for the reviews! Don't hate me too much!

It had been a few days since the ominous incident with the woman, and all Mihawk had been able to think about was that night. He was unable to concentrate on anything, and it was taking a toll on his work and his relationship with Shanks.

At the moment Shanks was suspiciously observing the pale man, trying to figure out what was wrong. He had been straight forward and had asked, but Mihawk stubbornly claimed that nothing was at all a problem. It worried him a lot. He moved to place his hand on the man's arm. Mihawk flinched and looked at him and then looked away.

"Mihawk…" Shanks sighed. He hated when tensions were thick. He wasn't the kind of guy to avidly solve problems. He would rather they drink their problems away but that didn't seem like a fitting choice. Mihawk did seem to fidget more than he usually did, which was not a lot. He obviously had something he wanted to say.

Shanks traced Mihawk's arm lightly, trying to get the man to relax, but it wouldn't work.

"You're tense enough for two countries, ya know. What's wrong?" Shanks asked again, trying to get the man to talk to him.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Mihawk firmly answered. Shanks sighed again, nodding. Well, at least his suspicion was cleared, there was something wrong.

Luffy, Zoro, and Perona were in the backyard of Mihawk's home playing with the other children. Nami, Chopper, Sanji and Usopp were all with them. They were trying to figure out who would be the captain of their pirate fleet and what the other members' positions would be. Obviously, Luffy ferociously claimed the seat of captain for himself.

Shanks watched them from the door, smiling at how creative they were being. It was refreshing for him to see them run about. Wow… He felt old. He wasn't that old, to be honest. He found himself grinning when he remembered that he and Mihawk shared birthdays, what a surprise that had been! Mihawk shifted, causing Shanks hand to be moved out of place, which upset him a bit. The red haired man pouted, jumping closer to his counterpart, nuzzling against his shoulder.

Mihawk looked rather uncomfortable as he wrapped his arms around Shanks neck, stroking his hair shakily. How was he going to say this?

"You'll think I'm selfish…" He started, "... and I guess I am."

Shanks' ear twitched. They had been silent for a while, so when Mihawk spoke, it caught him by slight surprise.

"No, I won't. You can tell me anything," Shanks promised, straightening himself so that he was able to look straight at Mihawk's face. Mihawk's striking eyes averted as he contemplated whether or not to continue. He did.

After a moment of intense silence, Mihawk swallowed the lump in his throat and opened his mouth, "We're moving."

Shanks blinked, not comprehending. He blinked… and blinked… and blinked again.

All of a sudden he burst into a wild laughter, patting Mihawk's back comically.

"Man, Mihawk, you're hilarious!" He wheezed, grinning largely.

Mihawk stared at him in cold silence, his heart beat racing at an unimaginable speed. It felt as though it would tear from his body. After Shanks had calmed down, he slowly began to realize that Mihawk was not being at all humorous.

"What the hell? Why?" He whispered, staring into Mihawk's eyes, as if they would give him an answer.

Mihawk didn't answer him for a moment as he looked away.

"We're gonna leave tomorrow. I've already made arrangements," Mihawk told him, his expression immediately becoming cold. He didn't know how to handle the situation, so he did what he always did, he feigned any reaction.

Shanks felt a rage fill up within him when he heard what Mihawk said.

"You already made arrangements?! What the fuck are you talking about?! These are things you need to discuss before doing, man! What the fuck are you thinking?!" Shanks yelled at Mihawk, angry that the man had suddenly decided on something so outrageous.

"You would be angry…" Mihawk mumbled.

"The fuck I'd be! You don't keep something like this from me until the damn day before! What the hell made you do this?!" Shanks was absolutely pissed off. He was pissed and he was scared. What was going on? Why so suddenly? This was too sudden. They had just been having fun yesterday! He was finally getting along with Perona!

"It's for the best…" Mihawk told him, staring at him. Shanks was silent as he glared at the man. He was so confused. Why? What the hell was Mihawk thinking?

It took the red haired man a while to calm down. He breathed in and out slowly, blinking back sudden tears. Why did Mihawk do this to him? He felt like he was hanging onto a lifeline, and struggling so hard to do so. He closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"Why?" He asked, pulling away from Mihawk and placing his head in his hands. His body was shaken, and the fear he felt was immeasurable. Why the hell was this happening so suddenly? He wiped his face, struggling to keep his head cool. He was trying to be logical. Mihawk must have a good reason. He wasn't someone who would just drop everything for no reason.

"We aren't safe here," Mihawk's voice broke the silence. He refused to make eye contact as he stood up, "You should leave. I need to finish packing up."

"I can help you! Why won't you just let me?!"

Mihawk stared at him icily, repeating himself.

Shanks stood up robotically and did as told. He felt numb and couldn't think. As he picked up Luffy and his friends, he tried to smile, but the task was too much. He couldn't even fake it, was how astonished he was. He forced himself through the door without looking back. He had to go get a drink with Yasopp and the guys.

Mihawk didn't watch as they left. He looked over at Perona and Zoro. Zoro looked concerned.

"We're leaving again?" He asked, tearing up. Mihawk looked at the boy unsure of what to say. Zoro was finally able to find children he got along with and here he was taking them away from him. Mihawk felt disgusting. He opened his mouth to reassure his son, but all that came out was a dry sob. He quickly covered his mouth, but his body refused to conform as his eyes started releasing tears. He bit back sobs as he turned away from his children, claiming he had to use the bathroom and he would talk to them later.

Zoro watched his father escape into the bathroom and looked over at Perona who stared back at him.

"Daddy crying," She stated, a frown placed on her tiny lips. Her eyes were narrowed as if she was angry. She was. Why was her beloved daddy crying? She had to go make sure he was okay! Would he feel better if she gave him her favorite toy? She stared at the odd bear wearing a hat and surgeon mask. The pretty red haired man had given it to her, and she had never let it out of her sight. It made her feel so happy. Maybe it would make her daddy feel happy?

She looked at Zoro and held out her toy, as if to ask permission.

"Kumashi make happy?" She asked her older brother. He always knew what to do. Zoro smiled at her and patted her head, pushing back her bear.

"Daddy just has to be alone. Let's go watch a movie," He told her, getting her to agree enthusiastically. She grinned as she picked a movie about a boy and his yellow electric mouse. She liked the movie, it was colorful. Zoro smiled and got her settled. He found himself staring at two framed pictures near the television. It was of him, Perona, Luffy, Shanks and his father. They were at the park and had posed for a quick picture. Shanks held Perona in his arm, the little girl was pulling at his face, and Mihawk had both his hands on either of the younger boys shoulders. Mihawk was staring at Shanks in exasperation, who in turn was laughing while trying to get Perona to stop hurting him. Zoro and Luffy posed victoriously. The other was of a sleepover he and his friends had. They were in Luffy's room, sprawled around the room. Nami had claimed the bed for herself. Luffy was on the floor half covered by a blanket while clinging to Zoro. Chopper was by Zoro's side, clinging to his arm. Sanji and Usopp were beside the bed, Sanji trying to stay awake in order to protect Nami.

Zoro smiled to himself, tearing up. It was okay. His father knew what he was doing. He trusted his father above anyone else. He would put his faith in his father and would do as he said.

Mihawk sat against the door of the bathroom, trying to calm himself down. He hated himself for this. Why did he have to go and upset his children now? He knew he was a shit person and always messed up, but they were getting by just fine. He wouldn't change his mind though. They would leave. He couldn't risk Perona getting hurt again. Zoro would understand. He always did. Mihawk felt like stabbing himself for what he was going to do, but sighed as he stood up. Better sooner than later.

He walked out of the bathroom and started packing what was necessary. Things they would need, things that he would have. He labored for a few hours, packing up numerous things before he entered the living room. He lugged a few bags and told Zoro he would be back after he put them in the car.

Zoro silently nodded. When his father walked back into the house, he looked at his kids sadly. Perona gasped when she saw him and ran up to him, waving Kumashi at him.

"Kumashi happy!" She said, trying to give the bear to her father who weakly smiled and took it.

"We're leaving… if you want to bring anything important, go ahead and pack your bag…" He whispered to Zoro who stiffly nodded. The boy went to their room and started packing certain clothes and his games and movies. There wasn't anything too important. He watched as his father took some of Perona's things and packed them up.

"Are you ready?" Mihawk asked Zoro who nodded as he started walking to the door, but then he stopped and turned to stare at the pictures once again. Mihawk followed the boy's gaze and saw the pictures. He swallowed and smiled again, weakly, "You can take them."

Zoro looked at his father and ran to the pictures, taking them and putting them in his bag. He felt his heart drop as he exited the house. This was real. They were leaving. He wanted to cry. He wanted so much to just scream, but he couldn't bring himself to. He didn't know why, but he understood what his father was doing, no matter how sudden it was. He swallowed as he placed his bag in the car and got in. He sat by a confused Perona who was being buckled into her little seat.

They soon started to drive, and Mihawk shook uncontrollably. Had he thought this through? Was he sure about this? Absolutely. Did he honestly want to though? No. He felt a wetness on his cheeks and realized that he was crying again. This was unnecessary. Why was he being so emotional. It was just another town and just another friends he was leaving. It was okay, he kept telling himself, but he couldn't help but pull over and turn the engine off as he started to grossly sob.

Zoro stared at his father in concern. He moved across the seats and tsat in the passenger seat. He reached over to hug his father tightly. This was one of those moments where he would have to comfort his father instead of his father comforting him. Mihawk buried his face in his hands as Zoro comforted him. Perona had gotten out of her seat and tried to move forward as well. Mihawk pulled her into his lap, holding her tightly. He wrapped his arm around Zoro as well, as he shakily sighed.

"I love you too so much…"

Zoro raised an eyebrow, "We know."

The next day, Shanks stood in the living room of the Dracule family. It was emptier. The couches and television, the keyboard and the flowers on the small coffee table were all still there. It was emptier though. He looked around to see certain components in Mihawk's room and from the children's room to be completely gone.

He swallowed as he found himself lying in Mihawk's bed. He shakily sighed, trying to comprehend what was going on. That bastard had left. Shanks gritted his teeth sitting up. He screamed.

"What the hell?! What about Luffy?! Zoro's his fucking brother! Forget me, I don't care! What about them?! Mihawk you fucking bastard!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice breaking as he let out uncontrollable sobs. This was unbelievable. It was so quick, so fleeting. It was like a nightmare. Like his foundations had been torn apart.

Shanks found himself lying in Mihawk's bed until it was time o pick Luffy up from school. He would have to skip the play date today, huh?

Bellemere and Yasopp stared at the distraught man wearily as they waited for their children to be let out. They honestly didn't know what to do. And that was it. In the end, no one really knew what to do. Life didn't come with a handbook, and life loved throwing horrible shit at you. It was inevitable.

Shanks smiled at Luffy as the boy ran to him excitedly. He could wait a bit.


End file.
